Enji's Endeavor
by Ceies
Summary: In their first year of High School they were asked to come up with Hero Names. The future Number One Hero - because All Might be damned, he would make it- wanted something grand to go with the title. In the end, 'Endeavor' surely wasn't his first choice. But it would be the most fitting. / Completed
1. Chapter 1

This is a story about Endeavor's past and what he did in the Manga so far. So in many ways it's a retelling of the Manga.

Hope you enjoy! And please review :D

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 **Beta-Read by Lionheart261**

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 **Enji's Endeavor**

 **A Sisyphusian Task**

„All Might! All Might! All Might!"

He could already hear the crowds from afar as he rushed closer to the noise. The flames were bright and thick clouds of ash and smoke fogged the sky above his head as he came ever closer to the scene of the catastrophe.

Phoenix knew the stink of ash and burned flesh well enough, but this made even his eyes sting and tear up.

When he finally arrived on the scene, the hero used his elbows to push through the onlookers to get a clear view. There were dozens of civilians staying to watch a spectacle despite the smoke in the air, still cheering that name. "All Might! All Might!"

When Phoenix finally shoved through the last of the gawking masses, he was surprised to find a handful of heroes watching and cheering just as stunned and just as much in awe as the common civilians. The sight alone made the young hero halt for a moment. Shouldn't they rush in and help?

But it seemed the burning buildings were too damaged for most of the heroes to even dare get close to them. There was a high risk of collapse and the slightest misstep could tip the feeble balance, crushing everyone still inside the burning building complex. It was … truly horrible.

Phoenix wanted to do something. His quirk might not be the best for saving people, 'Rescue' was still the discipline in school he had the most trouble with, after all, but that's what they were heroes for, right? To … at least do something. And, after all, he had a fire quirk, so he should be able to help.

He was about to rush to the building, to get in there, find somebody who needed his help, be a hero, when somebody grabbed his arm and dragged him back. "Take care of the civilians!" A tall hero with graying hair demanded. "Make sure they don't come any closer."

"But …," the younger hero looked back to the burning ruins, "shouldn't we help them?"

"Your quirk would only make it worse. You have no control over flames that aren't your own, yet, Phoenix." Phoenix just grit his teeth in anger, but of course the older hero was right. Phoenix might just lose control and make the situation even worse. His quirk was hard to keep in check. "There's already somebody inside."

Phoenix just stared for a moment, as the cheers of "All Might! All Might!" surged again, louder than ever, for a moment drowning out whatever else the older hero was trying to say. And then, a silhouette appeared from charred ruins and smoking ash. A tall and muscular blond hero in a red, white and blue costume.

Phoenix thought he knew him from a recent news report, but he wouldn't have remembered that by himself. However, the shouts of "All Might! All Might!" gave away the hero's name, even if Phoenix didn't know him yet. He couldn't be that much older than Phoenix himself, he thought – just a young adult. He emerged from the ruins carrying half a dozen people or more to safety.

Phoenix didn't complain. Instead, he followed the older hero's command and tried to calm some of the civilians. There was a mother crying, screaming and trying to rush back into the building to save a child. Phoenix didn't catch the name and there was no calming her anyway, so all he could do was hold onto her wrist for dear life until All Might emerged again to thunderous applause, rescuing among others the small daughter of the mother Phoenix still held in a strong grip.

It was the last group of survivors All Might saved before the rest of the heroes could finally set upon their job to quench the fire and tear down the remainder of the building as carefully as possible. The big blond hero gave an interview a bit away from the scene, all smiles and calm reassurance. Phoenix just stared at him.

Phoenix hadn't done anything. Nothing at all. Sure, his guardian hero hadn't allowed for Phoenix to actually do something, but still … even if he would have been allowed, there was nothing he could have done. And he was supposed to be one of the strongest in his year.

The hero Phoenix was only a first year of UA's hero class, but he had made a name for himself after he won second place during the UA sports festival that year. Well ... so people said. For him, he had just lost the gold medal. You didn't win second place. Being Second, meant you had lost to someone. And Phoenix had lost. Badly.

Still, he'd left enough of an impression that agencies all over Japan competed for the right to draft him for an internship. Second place or not … he was one of the brightest talents of his year. Still, he hadn't been able to do anything.

The hero called Phoenix, a name he had chosen specifically for this internship, had been put on crowd control instead of fighting or saving. Not that there had been much fighting to begin with, but it bugged him, nonetheless.

On the other hand, while it had been just a failure for Phoenix, a stark reminder that he was still weak, for All Might it had been his grand entrance. The former UA graduate had come back home after working as a sidekick for an American hero agency, bursting on the stage with a show of power, might and calm reassurance. With a showing such as this and other heroic acts soon to follow, the people would soon love him, calling him the unofficial Number One Hero long before the Japanese Billboard Charts had caught up to the fact.

"Did you meet him, Enji?" asked one of his fellow classmates when they met again after their internships. "You were on one of those news reports in the background. You were there!" Sajin was one of the people in class Enji got along with. They weren't exactly friends, per se, but Enji could tolerate him. Enji wasn't quick to make friends over all, so it came as no surprise that he didn't really have any. "Did you meet All Might? Bet he's like, super cool!"

Enji might have to reconsider his opinion, he thought, his irritation visible. If he kept fanboying over this All Might guy any longer, Enji Todoroki was going to lose it. Not that he couldn't understand it. He'd seen All Might in action after all, but still … it was annoying. Even more so, it seemed like nobody could ever stop talking about the man.

"Who cares?" said Enji shrugging in faked nonchalance. "I'll beat him anyway."

And he would. He had promised to be the strongest eventually. The Number One Hero! All Might's appearance didn't change that. That pseudo-American show-off would just raise the bar a little.

"Yeah, right," a girl laughed at his comment. "Forget it! You're powerful, alright, but have you seen the man?" The girl pointed at him. "You would never stand a chance."

Enji grit his teeth angrily at being mocked, but there wasn't much he could say to discredit her. He knew himself that he couldn't hold a candle to All Might's ... well, might at this point in time. Only time, he assumed, could prove that girl wrong.

His quirk was pretty damn powerful. It wasn't like fire quirks were particularly rare, but to have such powerful flames as he did was uncommon. It didn't come without risks, though. Overexerting himself, or just fighting a bit longer than he was used to, would banish him to the infirmary with trembling limbs, head aches and fever symptoms, sometimes for days. It got better the more he trained, though. His classmates, however didn't know the precise details of this weakness, so for them, he was simply one of the, if not the, most powerful students in their year. They might not necessarily like him – what with all his impatience, temper, aggressive tendencies, and often insulting behavior – but they did hold a great deal of respect for him.

As such, he wasn't used to being laughed at. Sometimes they mocked him for his temper, sure. But to be straight up told that he wasn't strong enough, couldn't do or ever reach something … that was a new one for him. It made him angry. Especially when more of his peers joined in, straight up mocking his goals.

"Yeah, no way!"

"Defeat All Might? He's supposed to be the next Number One. Bet he'll already reach the position next time the Billboard Charts come out. Nobody ever made it straight to number one before, I think. You'll never beat him, man!"

"You're an idiot for even trying!"

"You'll see!" Enji promised. "I'll defeat him, surpass him and become the Number One! I swear it!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"And I'll do it all by myself!"

If they didn't want to believe in him, just as well. He didn't work well with others anyway. Weaker comrades just got in your way – dead weight. Useless. Enji worked best when there was no ally in the vicinity that he had to try and avoid with his flames. He wasn't that good with pinpoint control yet, though that surely would change with time.

"Anyway, isn't it cool that you were on the news, Todoroki?" Sajin asked, finally trying to steer the conversation away from All Might. Enji only grunted at that. He didn't particularly care if he was on the news if it hadn't been for something he'd achieved through his own effort. As it was, he just happened to have been there when a camera moved around to get a better view on All Might.

"I think someone even wrote your name in the caption of the picture. Phoenix … Still don't understand why you went with that name, to be honest." His friend kept talking.

"Don't you know?" Somebody else jeered with a mocking tone to his voice. "Todoroki thought it was a good name for the future Number One." There was snide laughter "The teachers thought 'Red Devil' was too much of a villain name." Enji had nothing to say at his defense. It was true after all. "As if it makes a difference how worthy a name is to be number one. It's not the name that makes the hero. It needs more than destructive strength to be the greatest." His classmate mocked. He pointed at All Might's picture in the newspaper. "That's a proper number one. You, with all your aggressive temper … you're really just a villain in waiting."

"Shut up!" bellowed Enji. "You don't know shit about me, asshole! I'd never become a fucking villain. I'll beat everybody!"

"What? You? The Phoenix who can't fly? Never mind regenerate." His classmate laughed. "Get a fitting hero name first. This one is just misleading."

Enji blushed angrily.

"Eh, Todoroki, don't listen to that idiot." Sajin tried to console him, but Enji hardly listened. He didn't care for consolation. There was only one way to prove this fool wrong, after all. So, he stomped away to train, not giving either of his classmates a second thought.

They had chosen their provisional hero names before the internship had started. Enji Todoroki had named his quirk 'Hellfire' when he had been a bit younger. He still liked that name. Some thought it sounded evil, but Enji thought a quirk that sounded intimidating was a good thing. So, when asked for a hero name, the first names he came up with were all related to the name of his quirk. However, his teachers had expressed their concern, that any variation of Devil, Demon, Satan or Hell in his name might put off the public and only serve to reinforce the 'villainy vibes' he supposedly had anyway. They straight up forbade him to choose those names. So, he went with Phoenix.

True, he couldn't fly, or heal, or come back from the dead, but it was a creature born of fire, and it sounded cool, so he figured it worked. He'd thought 'The Fire Hero: Phoenix' would have been a great name for the future Number One Hero.

How his classmates received it proved to Enji that it might not have been the best choice, but he went with it anyway. He didn't know what else to change it to, and slowly, as time progressed, the hero Phoenix would make a name for himself. Once he started to establish his brand it was considered unwise to change his name again, so he left it as it was.

The Fire Hero Phoenix would slowly but surely win fame and recognition. Over three years and many internships he gained fame and respect, and soon Enji Todoroki was a third year of UA's hero class. People started calling him the 'Closest thing to Number One.' No matter how hard he trained, though, that was all he'd ever be called. All he'd ever be, according to most. The Number One Hero of his time was, as predicted, All Might, who had over the course of the last two years firmly established himself as not just the greatest hero, but as a hero completely in his own league, removed from everybody else. Enji Todoroki would never surpass him. Never even come close. All he'd ever achieve – or so everybody would tell him – was to get just a bit closer to him compared to everybody else.

Slowly, childish banter would turn to actual mockery and ridicule. His classmates, his peers, even his teachers, while they somewhat admired his tenacity, were increasingly amused at the fact that he was so utterly unaware of how impossible his goal was. It was like watching Sisyphus role his giant rock up a mountain, seeing it tumble back down and trying again and again and again.

He knew, that's how they looked at him. In mockery. In pity. In utter disbelief at his sheer stubbornness. He knew it, but he didn't care.

"I don't get it," one of his classmates would ask. "I mean, sure, I understand you want to be strong, but … you already are strong! Stronger than all of us! Than anyone! But All Might? Even you should see there's just no point in trying."

"Have you even seen that man fight, recently?" they'd ask. "He's basically a god."

"Besides, he's the Symbol of Peace. He's a role model not just for heroes, but for society as a whole. His very existence has seen crime rates and villain attacks decrease dramatically." That would always be the last argument they'd try, when everything else just fell upon deaf ears. "Even if you did end up stronger than him...you could never play that role as well as he can."

Maybe they were right. But damned if he wasn't going to try anyway.

"Typical Enji," some of them would follow up with, "focuses on taking down the greatest hero, instead of villains. He's always been a bit of a villain, really."

He never knew whether they meant it or not. Whether they actually thought, he'd turn into a villain one day. Did they really think he'd scoop so low? All his life, all he'd wanted was to be a hero. The greatest hero of all.

"I will surpass All Might, and I will be The Number One Hero!" It was a promise to himself he'd kept since that fateful day, Enji didn't remember when surpassing All Might had become a paramount and essential part of achieving his goal. When he had set out to becoming a hero, all he had ever cared about was to become the greatest, The Number One Hero. It had never actually entailed surpassing one specific person, just the need to be stronger than everybody else. Now, however, surpassing All Might – this god among men – had become a major part of his dream.

He would surpass All Might. It was the only way he could ever hope to become the greatest hero.

"Surpassing All Might?" one of the sidekicks in the hero agency he worked for asked loudly, laughing. "Yeah, right. You really mean that? Damn it, kid. You're just wasting your energy. There's no way! And for what? To bring down the symbol of peace? It's really such a pointless and futile endeavor."

All their comments would only make him more determined, would fuel his tenacity.

He graduated at age 18. The graduates were asked to fill out a registration formula for their hero licenses. On it, the second thing they asked after the graduate's birth name was their hero name. He was fairly certain that most, if not all, of his peers would just fill in the name they had chosen during their studies. Some had changed their name halfway through the first two years on UA, but mostly, these names had remained constant, and with these names through internships, work experience and different projects, the up and coming heroes had already established their brands.

The hero called Phoenix was no exception. Phoenix was the hero who was supposed to be the closest thing to the Number One. Phoenix was the one the newspapers had talked so much about. Changing his name was a risk. So much so that he hadn't actually entertained the thought for all of three years by now. However, now was his last chance to decide differently.

And he was no Phoenix. Working under that alias for almost three years had proven that to him. It might be a fitting name for the strongest of all, but he knew he couldn't call himself that. Not yet, anyway.

He knew choosing a different name would come with a risk. He'd give away the 'Phoenix'-brand, start again at square one. Then again, it had never been his goal or intention to be recognized as merely the 'Closest thing to Number One', so it wasn't like he'd really lose anything important.

It was an easy choice, really. He was no Phoenix after all. But if he was no Phoenix, what was he?

The future Number One? The man who would surpass All Might? The greatest hero of all …

"What a pointless and futile endeavor," he heard them say. Mocking him, pitying him, trying to make him give up or at least move the goalpost, make him see reason.

Maybe they were right. Maybe it was a pointless and futile endeavor. But it was his endeavor.

And so, he knew. This was who he was. He would surpass All Might and become The Number One Hero. He would fulfill this goal, and if he couldn't, if it turned out to be impossible, he'd just try harder. He'd never give up trying. He'd chase after that man until he'd either finally caught up or burned himself out, no matter how impossible it seemed.

He would surpass All Might and he would become the Number One, the greatest hero. That was his endeavor.

And that was who he was: The Flame Hero, Endeavor.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Crushing Realization**

He was sweating from the heat rising in his body. This was harder and more difficult than he had expected. Over the years, Endeavor had gotten a lot better at fine-tuning the heat and fire of his quirk compared to when he had graduated. And thank God for that. Now he needed all that control, as he was slowly, carefully burning and melting his way through the rubble to where he could already hear the survivors' pleas for help.

There had been a horrible earthquake. The region east of Osaka as well as some outer districts of the big city had been caught in it. There was a big tsunami incoming now and the local first response heroes had requested help from all nearby heroes to save the victims and evacuate the area before the second calamity would hit. It was frustrating, but there was nothing Endeavor could do. There was no stopping a natural disaster like this, no halting it. All they could do was take care of the civilians as well as possible. He hated these jobs. No villains to fight, no battles to be won, and even if they managed to save everybody – which was impossible, as the earthquake had already cost lives – there would still only be losers. People would lose their property, their homes …

On top of that, Endeavor was just bad at it. His quirk was destructive, powerful, deadly – suited to battle, not helping people. He himself was a walking, talking disaster in a way, not suited to fight a catastrophe of this magnitude. One wrong move and on top of an earthquake and an incoming tsunami, he could start a fire. It made his job that much more difficult.

But this at least he could do. He carefully burned through iron, wood and stone, careful to keep the damage to a minimum, careful to not collapse the entire building, careful to dig a single tunnel big enough to accommodate him so he could reach the civilians stuck in the basement under all this rubble. He had to crouch to pass through the small passage he had dug.

When Endeavor had first arrived on the scene, there was chaos. Normally in emergency situations like this, the first hero on sight was tasked with coordinating the joint rescue effort. However, when Endeavor had arrived, there was nothing of the kind. Whatever his colleagues were doing, this could have hardly been called a joint rescue effort, or much of anything really. Heroes were running around alone or in small groups, with no guidance or organizational structure. It was a boring task, and one he didn't particularly enjoy himself, but since his quirk couldn't exactly help much with saving the civilians and victims still trapped below the rubble, he had set out to establish some sort of system, at once.

It helped significantly that by now, Endeavor was well known. Just a mere eight months ago he had opened his own hero agency after working as a sidekick for the better part of two years after his graduation. It had been a bit frustrating. With his experience and skill, he could have opened his own agency pretty much straight away, but with the new name, he had first had to make himself known to the public again. Eight months ago, it had finally been time to go his own way. Admittedly to his own surprise, in the last Japanese hero billboard charts, he had suddenly climbed not just into the top ten, as he had expected, but straight to the number two spot under All Might. It came as a surprise to many, as he was still only twenty years old, but he had solved countless cases in his first months after opening his agency. So, despite the fact that he had less experience than most heroes in the next twenty spots after him, he had deserved this number two spot. It helped immensely now as he tried to coordinate the big number of heroes on the scene today.

Everything had worked well enough until, shortly before he thought they were almost done, and could wrap up and leave the scene before the water hit, one of the heroes had come back in a panicked frenzy, explaining that a family had been trapped in a basement, out of his reach.

So, Endeavor had taken up that task himself.

They only had about 20 to 30 minutes left until the giant wave would hit them, he knew. Worse, he had to take his sweet time to dig through the rubble as carefully as possible. It had already cost him fifteen precious minutes and he still hadn't reached them. At least, Endeavor was fairly sure, everyone else must have left the area by now. If he could save this family, they'd have saved all the survivors from the earthquake before the water would hit them and kill even more.

He was sweating and slowly heating up from the task of carefully burning his way through the rubble, passing through the still sweltering and smoldering tunnel.

"Who … Who's there?" The civilians must have finally heard him get closer. Their voices were trembling just a bit with suppressed fright. "Is somebody there?!"

"Stay away from the wall for a moment!" called Endeavor making sure they didn't get to close to his heat. "I'll be there in a minute!"

It only took another few seconds until he finally broke through. He immediately dowsed his flames until his fiery cloak and mask were the only lights emitting from his person and, as he would soon realize, also the only lights in the room. The family of six, now staring and blinking at him incredulously, had been trapped in complete darkness.

"En… You're Endeavor," said one of the adults, recognizing him after a few moments. There were six civilians, three of them children between the ages of five and twelve, Endeavor guessed. They all stared at him with huge eyes.

"That's me," Endeavor grunted a bit awkwardly – he was never really good at talking to people. He could save them, sure. Entertaining them, though? He wasn't good at that, and at any rate, they still had to hurry. He ducked back into the tunnel and waved for them to follow. None of them looked injured, so, he thought, they'd be strong enough to walk by themselves. "Hurry. Follow me!" He was about to leave again, when he realized none of them were moving. They still stared at him, somewhere between shocked and in awe. He grunted again. "No need to worry." He tried to sound reassuring. "But we have to hurry a bit." He hesitated uncertainly. There was no real reason to frighten them and send them in a frenzied panic by telling them the truth about the deadly wave coming in, he gathered. "I don't have all day," said the hero, a bit impatiently making to leave them while still glancing back. They didn't have much time, he feared.

Luckily, while one of the adults seemed to scowl at his rude behavior, they at least pushed their children to follow him. It took them no time at all to leave the ruins through the same tunnel he had dug to get here.

"There's a helicopter waiting for you over there", he pointed around a corner. He tried not to look panicked, but he was quickly glancing up and down the street. At least it looked like they actually were alone. They were the last ones left-everyone else had gotten out by now. That was good at least.

"Ah!" The shrill scream of one of the kids brought him back to focus on the family, that hadn't moved an inch from where they had climbed out of his make shift tunnel. Instead, they were staring down a road and pointing over Endeavor's head, making the hero swivel around.

Oh … fuck. Up there, Endeavor could see it. The wave. Masses of blue, deadly water, towering above the city. The water was still a bit away, but he could already see the blue and brown…ish death wave rise above them.

"Run …" muttered Endeavor. "Run! Head to the helicopter!" They had to get there before the rescue team left without them. With the catastrophe so close, that wasn't all that unlikely. "Hurry!" The tsunami had come faster than expected and he knew they couldn't outrun it.

He could hear the loud rotor blades of the helicopter speed up, pushing air. Endeavor truly felt despair then. There was no stopping this disaster, and the helicopter was starting without them. His charges hadn't even started moving yet, frozen into place by shock and panic.

"RUN!" He screamed, letting his flames surge angrily to shock them out of their frozen terror. Finally, they jumped into action, running toward the helicopter, and Endeavor could only hope they would reach it in time, before it was up and gone trying to save itself.

He, however, could not go with them. Endeavor turned towards the incoming calamity. There wasn't much he could do here, but he had to do something. They wouldn't be able to outrun it, wouldn't be able to escape it, if he didn't do anything. And he didn't have anywhere close to the power to stop it. All he might be able to do would be to try and delay the inevitable, hold the water and halt the catastrophe for just as long as necessary to save his charges. He should be able, he thought, to boil and superheat the water, turning it into steam immediately for however long would be necessary. Or until he drowned. Whichever came first.

The water was already upon him and he had no time to make sure the family was actually out of his own blast radius when he suddenly superheated and threw all his might against the deadly wave. Blue and white flames crashed with the water and suddenly steam exploded all around him.

The air was uncomfortably humid and hot even by his standards. But he could endure that. Suddenly, he heard somebody cough behind him. Shit, hadn't they gotten away?

"It's so hot! The steam!" complained a young voice and Endeavor could only throw a quick glance backwards where the family was again standing like deer in the headlights. Fuck! Why hadn't they run?!

He couldn't focus on them now, but he couldn't risk killing them with his heat either. He concentrated more on focusing his flames only against the water. Then he had to widen the blast radius again, as the water suddenly crashed against him from the sides almost surrounding him and the family.

Shit… Shit… He grit his teeth, firing in three directions at one, spending all his strength on his efforts to buy them some time when he already feared it was for naught. He was rapidly overheating his own body and soon he wouldn't be able to move anymore, let alone stand. Constantly using his quirk like this could ultimately kill him. There was no other choice.

The helicopter had started, moved above them, still in the danger zone of the tsunami, just low enough that the ladder they threw down at them could reach the family cradling behind him. From his peripheral view, Endeavor could see one of the adults making weak attempts at getting his family to get out of their shocked state and climb the ladder, but the sheer idea of climbing the dangerous ladder in this situation made the youngest kid cry hysterically, which made the whole situation just so much worse.

Endeavor was already sweating with blurry vision and trembling limbs, a splitting headache and feverish weakness. He couldn't focus on them now, though he should do something to help them get out of here. But he had his hands full.

Suddenly there was a powerful thud behind him. "Don't worry." He immediately recognized the voice. That timing... "For I am here now!" His voice was as deep and reassuring as ever. Endeavor couldn't help but feel relieved for a moment.

"All Might!" That was one of the children in relief.

Suddenly, as if Endeavor had only waited for the Number One hero to arrive, his flames died down without so much as another flare. They just sizzled out.

"Good work!" said the Number One hero, moving past Endeavor at once. "Get them out of here!" Endeavor didn't need to be told. He stumbled toward the family and grabbed for the ladder, using it as leverage to keep himself upright.

"Get on here!" commanded the Flame Hero briskly. He couldn't help but look back at All Might, who just crouched in preparation for an attack as calm as humanly possible. Endeavor had grabbed the oldest kid at the upper arm and pulled him toward the ladder; then he had just halted in his movement like the civilians around him, watching that broad back strain with muscles. "Move already!" demanded Endeavor only half-heartedly, pushing the kid to the ladder and urging him to climb it while still staring at All Might.

What was he about to do? He couldn't actually think to just punch the tsunami! How ridiculous!

In the end, he could just watch in stunned awe as the strongest hero...actually punched a calamity of that magnitude away.

"North America…" clamored All Might as his muscles clenched and rippled and Enji Todoroki just stared, himself now stunned into inaction, stunned like a mere civilian watching the Number One Hero. "SMASH!"

It was...frightening. To think that one man could have such power! Magnificent! Frustrating, really, because this was the man he had set out to surpass. And he knew now...he'd never get there. Not with his power, his body, his quirk. For the last five years, he had trained harder than anybody to reach this man. There were limits he now knew to his strength, limits to how strong he could get. Limits he could only draw closer to, but never truly break. But this man, All Might...he was truly far beyond all of Endeavor's limits, so far out of his reach. Enji had never felt so wholesomely inadequate. So...weak.

What a pointless endeavor indeed, to try reaching this man's power.

Endeavor couldn't help but despair, as he saw All Might smash a literal hole into an actual tsunami. Suddenly he could see the sky again, and as he heard the family's cheers of joy and admiration, he finally shook himself out of his state of shock.

He was about to fall to his knees from his own weak and overheated body, when he managed to catch himself with the help of the ladder still dangling from the helicopter. Right...the rescue. He still had to do his job. There was a bloody hole in a goddamn tsunami, but the tsunami wasn't gone, and they weren't out of danger yet.

"Climb the ladder, now!" ordered Endeavor as calm as possible. He realized with a bit of embarrassment that his voice was trembling weakly. "After every kid an adult", he declared pushing one of the adults after the kid he had already pushed to the ladder. "Any kids who can't climb themselves?"

But it seemed like All Might's presence gave them a sudden surge of new strength and confidence that they could all survive this catastrophe. One after another they climbed the ladder all by themselves, until Endeavor reached the helicopter last.

They were far above the danger zone now, and Endeavor could just watch All Might literally jump away. It was...mind-boggling what this man could do. He didn't want to think too hard about it, so Endeavor just leaned back and closed his eyes. He felt feverish and tired.

"Did you see, Dad?" One of the children cheered noisily making it impossible for Endeavor to actually fall asleep. "That's the Number One hero for you! Amazing! Just…North America…"

"Smash!" That was the youngest kid punching air.

"There's no one who comes even close!" said the middle child. A girl around eight years. She was excited and loud like her brothers. "I'll be a hero, too, when I'm grown up. Like All Might, I swear."

"That was so cool!" cheered the youngest.

"I know. He was cool, wasn't he," The mother's voice was soothing. She patted her youngest and smiled at Endeavor, who tried to act asleep … or at least he tried to act as if he wasn't hearing every word. "They saved us."

"Yeah, right!" said the oldest boy, turning to Endeavor suddenly. "You were pretty cool, too, Mister … eh … Endeavor." Endeavor still acted asleep.

"Thank you, Endeavor-san" said the mother, but he still did not react.

Really, he wouldn't know how to react. He was not good at this sort of thing. So, they went straight back to fanboying all over All Might. He should be annoyed, he thought, at All Might stealing his grand moment. The man had undoubtedly saved his life. But still...Endeavor had rescued these people, had almost gotten them out of there … until All Might had jumped in and saved not just them but Endeavor, too. It was frustrating.

He couldn't find it in himself, however, to be angry. He was just...frustrated, despairing. When was the last time he had seen All Might in action, doing something that seemed to actually strain him? For the most part, All Might was punching weak villains that Endeavor could take care of himself. Maybe that had been the reason why Endeavor had never realized their actual difference in power. He had never seen All Might do anything that Endeavor couldn't see himself doing eventually. Now, however...there was no way. Endeavor would ever be able to do that. The feverish state of his body was proof of that. He had thrown all his might against the tsunami with only little effect, and then All Might had come and just casually punched a hole through it!

How could he just accept that?

After the helicopter finally landed close to the make-shift shelter they had set up for the earthquake and tsunami victims, he found himself basically fleeing the scene. He had no desire to talk to or even just meet the paparazzi already swarming the place. Maybe he should consider himself lucky, that he got away almost undetected. Maybe it wasn't much of a surprise though, considering that All Might had only appeared a moment before him and was positively swarmed by the media, obviously relishing in the attention.

So instead of giving interviews or making another public appearance, he found himself back home and in bed only shortly thereafter. He fell asleep quickly, his body in dire need for rest.

He dreamed that night. He didn't dream often these days anymore, but maybe the fever had initiated this dream.

In his sleep he found himself staring at that back he was chasing after, at the man that was his goal. All Might was...so infinitely far away. And just moving further away still.

He woke up feeling a weird mixture of frustration, despair and determination.

He was Endeavor. The man who had set out to surpass All Might and become the greatest of all. They had all called him an idiot for trying, and now he knew they were right. He had truly set out on a Sisyphusian task. But, he wondered, what would Sisyphus do if he ever found himself reaching the peak of his mountain, only to look up and realize he had climbed the wrong mountain, pushing the wrong rock? What would Sisyphus do if he found the actual mountain so high above him he could hardly see its peak, and the actual rock so heavy he couldn't even move it at all?

What should Endeavor do now?

He couldn't just give up on his task. He knew what he wanted, and this endeavor was all he was now, all he ever wanted. His goal and dream. He couldn't just turn back. There was a promise he had to keep. A promise to himself.

So, what should he do?

He could always shift the goal post, he could give up...

But none of that was satisfactory. This endeavor of his, it was in his name. Hadn't he known from the get-go, that this endeavor might just be impossible? Now he knew for sure, but that didn't mean he could just stop and give up. There was really only one way forward.

He had to climb that mountain. He had to reach that man. He had to chase that back far in the distance, that back that seemingly carried all of japan effortlessly.

The frustrating thing was, that he knew...knew for a fact, now, that he would never reach this man. Not with his own power, not with his own quirk, not by himself. He knew now, had seen it with his own eyes. He was not so naïve anymore to just ignore that fact. He knew he would never succeed, would never reach this man. But he also knew he could never stop.

This was his endeavor. It was who he was: Endeavor.


	3. Chapter 3

**A new Plan**

He was 22 when he married Rei. She was a beautiful woman, honest, caring, loyal…but none of that was why he had married her. She was considerate and attentive, understanding him on a level even he himself didn't. Somehow, she had the ability to acknowledge and grasp all his little awkward gestures and translate them into what they meant. She liked lilies, the white ones, like the power of her quirk, and tea and sappy books that made her cry and made Enji just frown in annoyance. None of that had been the reason why they married.

He had married her for her quirk.

Enji had met her three years ago when he had still been a young, inexperienced and hopeful UA graduate working as a sidekick in one of the biggest hero agencies of Japan under the then number three hero, Burst. Nowadays, the hero Burst was still featuring somewhere between ranks five and seven on the hero charts, but he was surely declining in fame, leaving space for the more promising young heroes such as All Might and Endeavor himself.

Rei had been an intern at Burst's agency in her second year of High School. Endeavor and she had worked well together, back then. She with her ice quirk had been a great relief to his quirk's main weakness, the overheating of his body. Part of him had thought they'd work well as a team once he got his own agency and she had her license. He'd take her in as a sidekick ASAP. She might not have been a particularly powerful hero herself, but just the relief she brought his overheating body was worth it. However, in the end, it was due to her being a weak hero, that she never got to graduate as a hero in the first place. She might have had a rather powerful ice quirk, but she had a weak and frail body and her parents didn't have the money nor will to support her despite those hardships. So, she broke off her hero studies, graduated in a normal school and would never become a hero. He had all but forgotten about her, until they met again seemingly at random.

He'd felt rather desperate at the time. Frustrated. He'd hit a road block in his training, and on top of that the new billboard charts had been made public, putting him – as very much expected – at the Number Two spot. By now, he had that spot basically reserved to him.

Most people, he assumed, would be happy with being the number two, but Endeavor...he hadn't even gone to the ceremony to receive the honor, just watched it on TV. It wasn't uncommon for the heroes to skip the event. Heroes were mostly competitive. They loved media attention – thrived on it, really – and yet, for whatever reason, most heroes seemed to shy away from this event twice a year. Like actually seeing and acknowledging the competition between them would somehow drive a wedge between them and strengthen a potential villain agenda.

So, he hadn't visited the events. Instead, he had solved two low profile cases that evening, and listened in on the list via radio, watching only the last part in his office on TV.

Maybe it had been the host's comment about him that had set him off, frustrated him to this extent. It hadn't even been anything bad. "And now, the number two, just like last year and the year before. By now, he has firmly established himself as the number two hero, the man with the most resolved cases over the last six months: The Flame Hero: Endeavor."

He still remembered the words vividly, like a punch to the face.

It was true. He held that blasted number two spot for three years, without fail. It was as if he was glued to the spot. The eternal number two … he knew they were all thinking it. And the fact that he had accepted, even somewhat expected those words to come from the host only proved that even he had somehow acknowledged it by now. He would never be the Number One. He knew it already. This was just a frustrating reminder.

As they had said, he had solved more cases than any other hero in his time. He had apprehended more villains than All Might, saved more people too, if you counted sheer numbers rather than the magnitude of danger they were in. He hadn't planned to surpass All Might by just simply being the better hero. He had wanted to be stronger than him. Still…maybe naively he had hoped that option was still open to him.

The Japanese hero billboard charts didn't focus on overall strength, after all. The most important factors to conduct the rankings were the number of cases solved, civilians saved, general popularity and social contribution. He knew he was a bit of a social buffoon, and he didn't particularly care for the attention of his fans anyway. Truth be told, he was even a bit surprised he **had** fans. Still, the breakdown of his total points on the billboard charts showed that he had at least decent public approval ratings. Popularity wise, he might have ranked lower than most of his fellow top ten heroes, but he still seemed to have a decent enough number of fans. That alone was a bit baffling. That said, however, he had thought…known that he would be by far the best in terms of number of cases solved. He had worked some of the most high-profile cases this term. And indeed, it showed in his rankings. He had solved the most crimes and cases; in that category he was far and removed from pretty much everybody else, even All Might. This year, he was even leading the list of heroes with the most lives saved.

So why …?

He knew he was weaker than All Might by quite a margin, but strength was not really a factor here. Why couldn't he even defeat All Might now, in a mere ranking based on solved cases and popularity? How come he was leading in two of the most important categories, but All Might still not just surpassed him, but crushed him? In terms of social contribution, All Might's numbers were staggering, while Endeavor's were almost insignificant. In terms of popularity, it was almost the same, though Endeavor himself did a lot better there. He couldn't even complain. He knew that the numbers made sense. He also knew that he was indeed only deserving of the second place. But still...how come he stood absolutely no chance even when he was apprehending so many more villains, saving so many more lives?

It was … frustrating. Despairing.

It was after that day, that he had met Rei again and he had formed his plan. A mad plan, really, if he thought about it, whose ethics were shaky at best and the very nature of which repelled him. But it was a plan, nonetheless. A plan how he would surpass this American-themed idol.

He could never defeat him, never surpass him. He knew that now, and he had known that before. But...he could raise someone who could. If he could raise a child with his might, but without his weaknesses, who could take down All Might, surpass him...in a sense, he'd have achieved his goal. It wasn't exactly the kind of 'surpassing' he had craved, but he was desperate. At this point, he would take whatever he could get.

It was a mad, desperate, despicable plan, born from frustration and anger and despair. But once he set out to follow this path...he never looked back. He had never looked back when it had just been his life he had dedicated to this endeavor of his. Now, dedicating his future family to it as well seemed like a small step by comparison.

It wasn't all that bad, really. He would raise his future children to become the greatest heroes of all time. He would raise them to surpass even All Might. If he knew anything about children, it was that this was just about any child's greatest dream for as long as heroes had existed. It had been his dream, too. So, this kid of his – they would live Enji's dream. There was a poetic nuance to that idea, not that he ever cared for such sentiment.

He hadn't married Rei for love, but that didn't mean they were unhappy. As if blessed by the gods, she got pregnant immediately. Enji even got some free time from work to look after her, make sure she was healthy and cared for, and that the child was growing strong within her. He was still a pro hero with a pretty tight schedule, so he was gone more often than not, but he found time, whenever he could.

This could work, he thought. He'd married her for her quirk, but they got along well enough, and it wasn't like he couldn't find some familial happiness along the way. Only ten months after their wedding, their first son was born, Touya. Touya had Enji's black hair and piercing blue eyes. He assumed his chin and nose came from his mother, but Enji was never good at spotting these nuances. To him, the boy looked just like himself in miniature. A mini-Enji.

They were a happy family when Touya was still a toddler. Enji found time to spend with his family, made time whenever it wouldn't readily come to him. They were a small family, but soon they would get bigger. Rei was pregnant again that same year.

While Touya was a quiet and mostly content child, Fuyumi was a screamer. She had made him cut his time at work even shorter than before. Sometimes he wouldn't get any sleep at night. She'd give him headaches, but he'd try. Still, this was his limit for now. They shouldn't get any more children, he decided. Not now, at least. He was having trouble juggling family and his hero work. Rei would be a full time mother now. After giving up on her career as a hero, she had planned on working in business; now she didn't have any time for that. He didn't mind. He earned enough money for the entire family, and he really needed her to raise the children anyway, because he could hardly find enough time to spend with them. He supposed from what he could observe that she minded a great deal, but she never complained.

He had married to further his goal of getting closer to All Might, of becoming the Number One. And yet instead, he found his career seemed to suffer as a result of his young family. He'd slowly begun solving less and less cases each year. One day, after a difficult night with Fuyumi, he'd completely blundered during work. A civilian died during one of his battles, and in the end, he almost died as well. The backlash from the media was bad, and Endeavor couldn't even be mad at the critics. This had been his failure. He had been too tired and distracted. His family had been distracting him from his work.

He had to cut one of the two short: his time with his family or his time with work. He couldn't juggle both. The answer was surprisingly difficult, but then there was really only one answer. He just needed one more incentive. Being suddenly and unceremoniously kicked out of the Japanese Billboard Charts' Top Ten was that wake-up call he needed. He was losing sight of his goal.

He went back to working harder, solving more cases, gaining back that number two spot, and not spending much if any time with his family. He was a pro hero; he assumed a somewhat strained personal life was to be expected. It wasn't ideal when he hardly partook in Fuyumi's second and Touya's third year, but they would one day understand what it meant for their father to be a pro hero and what kind of responsibilities that would entail. One of them was bound to develop the quirk that would crush All Might, after all. And it wasn't like everything was bad. It wasn't like they were unhappy, unsafe or wanting for much. They were just...slowly estranged from him.

When Rei was pregnant again, it was a bit of a surprise for everybody. Unlike the other two, this one wasn't planned. Enji was almost a bit annoyed by it. He could hardly find time to spend with his other two children or his wife. One more kid...all the same, he couldn't really bring himself to regret it, though. Despite what some may have assumed, he **did** love his children, and this one, accident or no, would be no different.

That was when Touya's fourth birthday approached. It was a big party. Enji was there – he made a point to at least not miss his children's birthdays – but this one was extra special. This was the year Touya was supposed to manifest his quirk. It was supposed to be a great year, in a way, the year Enji had been waiting for since he married Rei.

No matter how much he had started to care for his family, he could not forget his goal. He would train his children to surpass All Might. That had, after all been his goal, right? With four years, Touya was finally old enough to train, and soon he'd show his quirk to the world.

However...Natsuo was born, a boy with white hair and a few strands of red. Fuyumi turned three. The year passed, and Touya's quirk did not manifest. He turned five, quirkless. The doctor said not to fret – there was still time – but Enji was doubtful, fearful...devastated in a way. Touya should have inherited a powerful quirk by now. Both his parents had powerful quirks. Physically, he was a bit weaker than Endeavor had been, but...Enji himself had surely already known his quirk when he was four, as far as he remembered. He didn't exactly fear his son was without a quirk entirely. Not yet, anyway. But he was...disappointed.

It didn't stop him from training Touya. Maybe he just needed more time, patience. Enji was not good at being patient, but he tried. It wasn't like he needed Touya to have the perfect mixture of his mother's and his father's quirks, but he had expected...something. The disappointment was always there. He couldn't help it. He had married Rei for her quirk precisely so they would have powerful offspring. Not...this.

Fuyumi's quirk manifested only shortly after her fourth birthday, so Enji chose to focus on her. She didn't have a powerful quirk, but it was a quirk nonetheless: she could change the temperature of the things she touched. He guessed it made perfect sense that, if a heat quirk and a cold quirk mixed, this temperature regulating quirk would be the outcome.

He didn't even realize, really, the precise moment he just tossed Touya to the side. It wasn't like he wanted to ignore him. It wasn't like he didn't want to spend more time with him. It was just that his time was limited. He was a pro hero. When they were older, they'd understand the responsibility that came with the job, the tight schedule. So, what time he had, he focused on Fuyumi. Only for a year or so, though. He was a pro hero who had watched other heroes for years, who had by now taken in interns and sidekicks. He had an eye for talent. Fuyumi was decent, but she would not be someone who could ever threaten All Might.

People started calling him 'The Eternal Number Two: Endeavor' by now. He heard it in the streets, read it in the newspapers. Some even seemed to think that was his official moniker. He didn't know if they said it to mock him, or because they actually believed that. Either way, he hated that name. It only ever served to mock him, ridicule his goals, laugh at his endeavor.

What was he doing? He had sworn to surpass All Might! Instead he wasted his time training a girl that would never be able to come close to his own level, never mind All Might's!

It wasn't like he didn't enjoy his time with his family, but his eyes were set on a different sight, on a back in the distance, a man to reach, a goal so far gone there was no way he would ever get close to it, and yet...he could not turn back. Turning back now would negate everything he'd worked for those last years, render his endeavor pointless, turn himself into a fluke.

There was only going forward.

He knew what he was doing to his family when he cut his time with them even shorter. He knew Touya felt inadequate, Fuyumi felt abandoned, Natsuo forgotten and Rei furious. He knew it, yet he didn't actively realize it. For that, he would have had to look backwards, actually **see** them. He didn't. His eyes were singularly focused on but one goal, one back in the distance, a single man standing alone beyond a chasm so wide, Endeavor would never bridge it. He didn't look back at the people he was leaving in his wake, not if he could get but one step closer. He couldn't afford to. If he did, he might give up, go back, break his promise and destroy who he was.

There was only ever going forward for Endeavor. That was what it meant to be himself.

When Touya turned seven, the catastrophe finally happened as if it had just waited to break lose. Enji had all but given up on the kid, had abandoned him entirely. As far as Enji was concerned, Touya was a quirkless kid. He wouldn't go as far as to call him a failure, because he was still his son, but the fact that he would not use the word wouldn't change what he thought and what surely Touya by now knew too. Enji...cared for his children. He truly did, even if he sometimes had to...remind himself of that fact. But he never really told them. And, even if he cared about them, in the end it didn't change the fact that he had only sired them so he could raise one of them to surpass All Might. The fact that they would never do so didn't make them failures, or useless, or mean that he cared any less for them, really, but...he never told them or showed them...or around enough to prove it to them.

What remained was the simple facts. He was a pro hero. His time was limited, precious. And he was not just any pro hero; he set out to be the best. When they were older, he was certain, they would understand that. They would understand that he had no time for family pleasantries. No time for stupid little games, or hours wasted away with pointless family activity. His time was worth lives, literally. The time he spent with them, he could not spend fighting villains, saving people, getting better. As such, his time was simply worth too much to spend with them if they did not have the potential to make it worthwhile. He wished they had, but he wasn't blind to the truth. Surely, they would understand all of that in a few years. Not like their mother, who refused to understand no matter how many times he explained himself to her.

Anyway...Touya had been neglected. There was no talking around that fact. Enji knew it, had known it from the start. He had just not thought it would go this wrong. Maybe if he had been there? But there was no 'what if…?' to this situation. To Enji, his eldest son had always only been the quirkless kid. How could he have known?

He was seven, when Touya suddenly...erupted into flames. The quirk had manifested violently, vengefully, in a moment of emotional turmoil as he had been playing with little three-year-old Natsuo.

Endeavor had been called home from work immediately by a frightened Rei. On the phone he hadn't really been able to understand her frantic screaming. But when he came home, he understood. Touya's quirk, it turned out, was much like his own. A fire quirk that didn't make the user entirely immune to its own heat. Endeavor had to constantly control himself to not burn up from the inside out. Of course, Touya in his panicked, emotional and uncontrolled outburst had not known this skill. He'd just erupted into flames and disintegrated in his own fire. At least that had been the theory. There was no body left...no way to know for sure. Only Natsuo remained, a three-year-old, disturbed witness to a tragedy that should have never happened.

Enji knew it was his fault. His traumatized three-year-old clearly thought so. He didn't know if Rei blamed him. Fuyumi didn't, he was at least sure of that. It was a bit of a relief, that at least one member of the family didn't think he had inadvertently killed his oldest child by being a shitty father.

If the incident should have incited him to be a better father to the children he had left or a better husband to the wife in mourning, it didn't do that. It did the opposite, really.

He hated going home. Hated Natsuo's judgement or Fuyumi's lack thereof. And then there was Rei. She was trying her best, he knew. Trying her best to hold the family together for the sake of her remaining two children. She asked him to spend more time with them, asked him to talk to the children, to her. He couldn't, wouldn't...didn't want to. When he was there, he knew he was altogether not very agreeable. In a perpetual bad mood. Aggressive. Insulting.

There were families, he had heard, that grew closer in tragedy. His fell apart. Losing a son could do that to a marriage, a family, especially if said marriage or family wasn't a loving one anyway. It just all...fell apart.

And Enji... **Endeavor** remained singularly focused, now more than ever. If there had ever been a time in his life when he could not afford to look back, it had to have been now. He couldn't look back, couldn't turn back. It wouldn't just undo who he was, who he was going and aspiring to be...it would destroy him.

So all he could do was move forward. Hold true to that goal. Get closer, one step at a time, closer to that chasm between them, the gap he'd never be able to cross.

When Natsuo's quirk manifested there was not much doubt in his mind that it wasn't enough to defeat All Might. It was an ice quirk very similar to his mother's. He never really even started training Natsuo. Maybe he was secretly glad for that fact. Maybe he even just decided before that Natsuo would not do. The kid was still only three when he showed his quirk, which was awfully early, proof of some serious talent. But … perhaps Enji was too much of a coward to subject himself to Natsuo's judgement every day while training him.

No. His decision was final. He'd make a new kid. A new son, with a powerful quirk. One not burdened with the memory of Touya. One he could look at without seeing his greatest failure.

Shoto was born only nine months after Natsuo's quirk showed for the first time. And Shoto...he looked like the perfect split between his mother and his father. All his other children had been mixtures between both his red hair, and her white hair. Shoto, however, was just split down the middle. Like Rei and Enji suddenly didn't mix well anymore. And...they didn't. Their marriage was in shambles. But...Shoto was the perfect son he had been waiting for. He knew it, before the child's quirk even showed. It was plain to see. This was the half Rei-half Enji that he had wanted. This was the kid who would be able to control both fire and ice. The ultimate quirk.

He'd train this kid. Train him, until Shoto would be able to surpass even All Might and become The Number One Hero, live his father's dream. He'd put all his hopes and dreams and ambition into this kid, raise him, train him, to be the greatest hero.

Endeavor might never be able to leave that blasted Number Two position behind. But Shoto would. This was **his** endeavor, now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Failure**

When his former school had called him, he had been a bit surprised. UA actually asked for his assistance in this missing student case? That was a new one. UA itself had quite a few powerful heroes as teachers, even that buffoon All Might as of the latest term. Apart from him, they also had quite a few powerful graduates, not least of all the Number 4 and 5 heroes. Surely, they'd call any one of them before Endeavor. Not that Endeavor wasn't suited for the task. He was just not somebody to normally extend courtesies or favors. In the end, however often they tried telling him that as a UA-graduate it would affect Endeavor too should the school be discredited, it didn't change the fact that this was, at its core, a favor they were asking of him.

If the school couldn't protect its students anymore, maybe there was a reason why the school's image had suffered in recent years. He didn't really see how that concerned him, but he accepted the job anyway. The fact that they were asking him and probably some other heroes for help despite already having All Might on their side promised that this would be a pretty high-profile case. He never rejected jobs like those. On top of that, that kid Bakugou was one of Shoto's classmates, and Endeavor had recently – albeit with little success – tried to reconnect with the boy. He even remembered the explosion quirk user from the Sports Festival back when he had...pretty much blasted Shoto out of the Arena. Back then, for just a moment, he had feared his son had died there, succumbed to his stubborn refusal to use his full potential. Thankfully, he hadn't, and Endeavor had invited Shoto for an internship with his agency.

He had always somewhat hoped that his children would understand his decision once they were old enough to grasp his hero work. He was not good with social interaction, never had been, and his family had never been an exception, saying nothing of Rei's mental breakdown. Shoto had blamed and never forgiven him for that. Still, he had hoped that once he was older, he could show Shoto his hero work and finally demonstrate to the kid what Endeavor was good at.

It hadn't really worked as planned. At the very least, Shoto had grown past his defiant refusal to use the fire-half of his quirk. He had even taken Endeavor up on his offer for the internship. They had not really connected though. Shoto had run off as fast as humanly possible to meet with his friends and fight the Hero Killer Stain – which, Endeavor had to admit, was remarkably impressive. After that, he had spent some time in the hospital recovering from his injuries. Once he had come back, the internship was already as good as over. The kid had just enough time to mock him for taking credit for a fight he hadn't actually won himself. Never mind that he did that to keep Shoto and his friends out of trouble for their vigilantism. It wasn't like he particularly enjoyed taking credit for deeds that were not his own.

Anyway...Bakugou. The kid had shown some talent during the tournament. Would be a shame if the kid was hurt, or worse, became a villain. Besides...perhaps it would help with his relationship with Shoto, as an added bonus.

That's how he got here, and as expected, he wasn't the only hero they had called for help. This really had to be a frightening enemy they were going up against. The team UA had assembled was positively stacked. All Might and himself aside, there were Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, Gang Orca. Some new heroes – the wood guy and the giant girl. Then there was the old man he had met in Hosu, and the members of the Wild Wild Pussycats, who were attempting to save one of their own as well. Their team seemed ridiculously overpowered. Adding on top of that that the school staff was providing a distraction, hoping to catch the enemy unawares...there really had to be something here that he didn't know about yet, but nobody was telling him. Either that, or they really just hoped to make a show of power.

They were informing him about a villain as strong as All Might. He had never heard of such a villain before. Supposedly, the Nomu from the USJ-attack had been enough to rival All Might, but in the end, All Might had defeated him in under a minute. Endeavor really couldn't fathom that a villain that strong really existed without him knowing about it. And how did All Might know?

It was frustrating at first. For some reason, maybe precisely because the team was so ridiculously stacked, he'd been delegated to being back-up. So, he just stood outside the hideout with the police, frustrated but complying with the obligations they gave him while All Might and Best Jeanist led their two teams against the two locations they had discovered.

He stood with his arms crossed, scowling up and down the street, glancing back to the hole All Might had punched into the wall to see if there was anything going awry, anything for him to do. Then suddenly, there was noise from the hideout, he heard All Might scream and before he could even think of leaping to help his colleagues, chaos broke out among the police forces surrounding him as slimy grey goo seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

It must've been some sort of teleportation quirk, he thought, shocked activating his quirk right as the first Nomu appeared. He still remembered fighting them in Hosu. These ones, he thought, might even be weaker than the black one he had fought back then, but they were still too strong for the police forces to deal with. Thus, he had to stay where he was and take care of the Nomu. He just had to trust that the team up in the hideout itself had everything under control. It hadn't exactly sounded like they had...anything...in control. But, then again, this was All Might, with back-up consisting of Edgeshot, Gran Torino and Kamui Woods. There was no reason to assume that whatever was happening up there – probably more Nomu appearing – was too much for them to handle.

He heard Kamui's request for back-up, but he really couldn't do anything now. The police stood no chance against these beasts, and if he left to help Kamui Woods and the others, Endeavor was sure, the officers were done for.

"Tsukauchi! Expand the Evacuation Zone!" ordered Endeavor, annoyed that this hadn't already happened. With his right hand, he incinerated one of the Nomu in the meantime. They really weren't all that strong, but there were a lot of them, so he immediately jumped towards the next modified human.

If that hadn't been bad enough, Tsukauchi, the responsible detective from the police, suddenly informed him that there were troubles with Best Jeanist's team, too. They had lost contact. This was ridiculous! Best Jeanist, he thought, should be able to handle himself just as well as All Might. From what he knew, this League of Villains had no member powerful enough to defeat that fashion fanatic. Even these Nomu shouldn't be a danger to him. Had this unknown supervillain they had informed him about made an appearance after all?

He increasingly felt like there was something he didn't know. Some information he hadn't been given. He hated being denied information, especially when his help was specifically requested. Whatever was happening, however, there wasn't much he could do now about Best Jeanist's situation. He had his hands full.

"Enough whining, already!" bellowed Endeavor. What was he supposed to do about it? He couldn't help Best Jeanist, just like he couldn't help Kamui Woods. He was burning another Nomu, already searching for his next victim.

"Endeavor!" He suddenly heard his name from up above. Sure, now All Might would ask him for help, or what? Couldn't they see he had enough to- "Can you handle this?"

"Does it look like I can't?!" Really, he had been the only one here not requesting or needing back-up as far as he was concerned. "Don't tell me Mr. Top Hero needs glasses in his old age!?" He could deal with this side of things. Best Jeanist was the one who was probably in trouble, if Tsukauchi was right. Anyway, it seemed like the villains and the kid they had come here to save weren't here anymore. So, what was All Might even still doing here? "If you gotta go, then get going already!" He sure as hell didn't need All Might's help here. The mere fact that All Might had to ask seemed like an insult to Endeavor.

"Yeah…you take care of everyone here," said All Might. Endeavor was about to shout at him further, but circumstances dictated that he grab another Nomu from the side and incinerate it, its enhanced skin serving as an effective "punching bag" for him to burn. He could only hear All Might doing one of his crazy powerful jumps away from the scene.

Edgeshot, Wood-guy and the Geezer came out of the hideout after him. While Kamui Woods and Edgeshot immediately descended upon the Nomu army, Gran Torino seemed a bit indecisive, alternating between looking down at the attacking beasts and up towards where All Might had disappeared to.

"Hurry after him!" Endeavor said, without relenting from his vicious attack against another Nomu. "We'll take care of these ones and follow you as fast as we can!"

He didn't really think that All Might would need help. All Might was, well, All Might after all. But saving the kid was their main objective, and the kid was not here. So, no need to focus all their battle prowess here with the fodder. That said, even if you were All Might, backup was never bad, and the old man seemed too distracted to be of any help here anyway. Sure enough, he was gone after All Might in an instant.

Endeavor, Edgeshot and Kamui Woods took quick care of the Nomu. Kamui had a bit of trouble with them, as his quirk was mostly suited towards restraint rather than direct combat, but these beasts had super human strength which rendered his wooden bindings ineffective. Edgeshot and Endeavor were always able to take them out swiftly. They weren't the Number Two and Number Five hero for nothing, after all. It took a while before even the last Nomu was taken care of, but finally they could hurry after All Might and Gran Torino.

There was already smoke and dust rising by the time they were finished, and he could feel the tremors of the combatants' power reverberating through the entire city when All Might clashed with...whomever he was fighting. There truly had to be a mighty villain afoot that Endeavor could detect the quakes of their strength even while still being this far away. They hurried through the city, but the fight was so far away that it took them a few more precious minutes.

Then, finally, they came into view. The last clash of those two forces had crumbled buildings and ripped holes in the ground. A big grey cloud of dust rising all around them obscured the view for but a moment.

But then, Endeavor saw it...saw them. The adversaries. First, he saw the other guy, the villain with a weird half mask which he wore over his lower jaw and neck, and his scarred, faceless face. Endeavor didn't see All Might at first until he saw a scrawny figure clad in All Might's costume, clearly several sizes too big for such a frail man.

The two men talked, and from what they were saying, from what he could see of the two figures, from their position on the battlefield, he could only deduce that this sickly thin man...had to be All Might. But that...that was utterly impossible! Inconceivable!

This scrawny, defeated, frail and weak man...

The woman stuck in the rubble called him All Might, cheered him on the way everybody always cheered All Might on, as if she didn't see that this couldn't possibly be All Might, the Number One, the greatest hero. This couldn't possibly be the back he'd been chasing after for so many years, the man he had tried to reach for so long without success.

Yet, they called him 'All Might'. What a mockery!

Endeavor ran closer to the scene, Edgeshot and Kamui Woods at his heels, who hardly seemed to react to this new revelation. Was Endeavor the only one who could not believe his eyes here? What the fuck was happening?!

That sick old man and the faceless villain seemed to prepare for one final clash, when Endeavor was finally close enough to throw an angry burst of his raging fire against the villain. The villain deflected the attack like it was nothing, but Endeavor hardly cared, staring at that sickly figure. And then the man looked at him...and there really was no denying what Endeavor could see with his own two eyes.

"What …? What's wrong with you, All Might!?" screamed Endeavor in rage and disbelief.

He didn't care for the villain who was prattling on about how Endeavor had defeated the Nomu.

"… you sure have climbed high." The villain ended. True...he had climbed high. All so he could surpass...this.

"All Might…" he muttered in disbelief.

He had climbed so high...but he had never been able to achieve his goal, never been able to reach this man, never been able to become the Number One. He had worked so hard, for so long...

All this effort, just to beat All Might! And the gap between them, how he had always been lagging behind! He remembered that despair. Years of despairing, of frustration, of futile struggling! What that despair had led him to do...

Images flashed through Endeavor's mind so quickly he couldn't control them. Images he'd tried to push to the back of his mind, as he chased All Might's back, in the hopes that reaching his goal would make it all worthwhile. Now it all came rushing back to him.

He saw a young woman, shy and timid yet filled with a quiet passion for her work as a hero-in-training. He saw this woman again, older now, no longer pursuing the same dreams, yet accepting his proposal. He saw her walk down the aisle, saw her pregnant with his sons and daughter, seeming to lose herself more and more as the years dragged on. He saw a son, seemingly made from his own image, looking back at his father and wondering why he wasn't spending as much time with him as he used to, only to find himself joined by two of his siblings later on. He heard his wife's frightened sobbing as she described their first child apparently bursting into flames.

He saw a little boy, barely five years old, being led along by his own hand away from his siblings, having fun in the yard. He saw his wife, driven to a state of mad panic, throwing a kettle of boiling water into that boy's face. He saw the clinic where he left her. Heard his son, freshly bandaged and sniveling, blaming him for everything.

He saw the look Shoto gave him the day after the incident, and every day since.

Endeavor's eyes widened as he considered all of this, coming to a conclusion which rocked his mind to its very foundation. But before he could truly take the time to think about it, he had to get an answer to the one question on his mind. He had to know the meaning behind all of this. He wanted...needed to understand.

Was his goal, what he had worked for all his life just a lie?

"Explain this pathetic state you're in!" screamed Endeavor in despair and pure rage.

He didn't care about the villain, or the fact that the whole world was watching. This was... He had feared that by giving up on his endeavor, seeing how impossible it was, he would discredit himself, turn himself into a fluke. Now…it seemed like the goal itself had been a fluke. A lie…or whatever this was.

And All Might…this pathetic excuse for All Might, rather, was just looking at him silently, nothing to say, not even an attempt to answer his question.

Endeavor only realized the stupidity of having this drama now, when the villain moved to attack him, and Edgeshot and Kamui Woods jumped into the fray. Right…the villain came first. He had to concentrate.

"Even if this is all we can do," Endeavor heard Tiger say, "we'll do whatever we can to ease your burden." Endeavor moved to attack again, throwing his raging fire against the villain so much more powerful than both him and Edgeshot combined as they tried to distract him. "It's up to you, to stop this heartless villain, All Might! We're all rooting for you!" Endeavor heard Tiger's words, but he didn't think about them, focusing completely on the villain now. "No matter how you look, you're still our Number One Hero!"

As if! Endeavor thought. Whoever this man was…he could not be All Might!

Weirdly enough, though, however stubbornly he refused to see this man as All Might, it didn't change the fact that he was still providing distraction and buying time for this fake All Might to prepare an attack.

He, Endeavor, who had never asked for nor expected All Might's help. Who had tried so hard to surpass him. He who HATED All Might for all the despair he brought him, was now nothing but back-up, setting the stage for this flimsy fake All Might.

He didn't understand it himself. This wasn't All Might! And unlike what Tiger said, Endeavor had never accepted him as his Number One Hero. Everyone else had, yet Endeavor had raged against the fact, had worked so hard to topple All Might. And yet…here and now he knew that this was an opponent only All Might could…and should beat. Even this scrawny, sickly old All Might.

The frustration of that realization – that he was basically preparing the stage for All Might, of all people – served to strengthen his last attack against this unstoppable villain, before the counterattack suddenly swept him off his feet and threw him into the rubble, from where he could only watch as All Might powered up one last time, to land one last decisive blow and deliver one last message to the public.

This was it…All Might's last act. Endeavor knew it as he watched the man power up his attack. He knew then he had ultimately failed in his endeavor. With all his plans, all his dreams, all his stubborn refusal to give up…Endeavor had thought, if he just tried hard enough, if he just never gave up, at some point, some time in the future he might succeed still. Shoto, who was supposed to surpass All Might, was still only a kid. And he, Endeavor, had never considered that All Might might not even exist long enough for Endeavor to finally reach him.

He didn't know if he should feel joyful, like everybody else when All Might proclaimed his victory, fist raised into the sky, or if he should rather cry in disappointment, demeaning though the act may be. He had…failed. Failed in reaching his goal, failed in reaching this man, in surpassing him. All Might was now well and truly gone, leaving in his wake a scrawny half-dead man with, for some inexplicable reason, no ounce of All Might's titanic strength left in his body.

Endeavor knew now, finally, with crushing certainty, that he would never reach nor surpass this man. He had…failed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hollow Victory**

Being the Number One hero was not what he had imagined it to be. For now, it wasn't official. The Billboard Charts had not been renewed. His declaration to Number One was only by proxy. The news had proclaimed him as such the day after All Might's retirement. A passing remark while all the focus was still on All Might's epic battle.

He knew that even when the new Billboard Charts would be made public and after he would be officially named the Number One, it would still only be by default. Well...to him, anyway.

This was not how he had imagined his dream coming true. This wasn't how it should have been. It was frustrating…and so, so exhausting. He would not accept this. How could he? He couldn't. Who would? But there was nothing he could do against it.

He was now Endeavor, the Number One hero. And he didn't know what to do with that title, where to go from here, how to proceed. All his life he had only ever known how to look forward. Mow that he had somehow achieved his dream, no matter how he'd rage against the way he had reached it, there was nothing left for him to do.

He had not reached All Might. He hadn't surpassed him. That back he had been chasing after was just...gone, shrunk to a weak and bent back, too weak to be Number One, too weak to be a hero at all. All his life, Endeavor had orientated himself towards this back, had been guided by it. Now, without All Might, he was well and truly lost.

With nobody to look forward towards, he suddenly found himself looking backwards. Back towards what he had pushed aside.

30 years…he had spent 30 years chasing after All Might. He had never expected to actually reach that man, and he had no idea what he'd do once he did. Now, he hadn't reached him, but he was the new Number One, nonetheless. Days passed, and the people would not let him forget the fact. There were journalists and paparazzi camping outside his house and office. There were newscasters demanding statements from him. There was an obvious concern by the public that Endeavor would not be up to the task. They didn't say it directly, but it was always there, the comparison to All Might and how Endeavor would inevitably fall short. He was no All Might; he couldn't reach him, or even come close. Endeavor knew that better than anybody. He knew exactly how far away from the true All Might that he still was. He knew he was not All Might, yet, to some of the people, it sounded like he should be. Like they demanded that he became All Might overnight.

And he didn't know what to do, where to go, what to search for. He was at a complete and utter loss.

30 years. 30 years of his life devoted to the task, just to end up like this. Looking back, he could see how much those 30 years had cost him, and everyone around him. His family was in shambles. He had always known that, always known that he was at fault for much that had gone wrong…but he had thought it would all be worth it once he'd reached his goal. Now it was all meaningless. Just a giant, horrible waste.

He didn't know the way forward, so...he found himself moving backwards.

His family…it was as good a point as any to start. All the things he had ruined in his pointless endeavor.

While the public demanded he show himself, take up his position as Number One, become the next All Might, he found himself going to the hospital where he had left Rei ten years ago. He didn't really know what to do, what to say when he saw her…didn't know what he wanted to achieve. But...it seemed like the right place to go, the best place to start. Start what, he wasn't entirely sure.

In the end, he needn't have bothered. She was asleep, and the doctors told him he couldn't visit, shouldn't visit. It wasn't good for her. So, he left again, none the wiser.

He called his daughter, Fuyumi, because he thought she was the easiest for him to try to reach. She had never hated him like Natsuo or Shoto. He hadn't completely destroyed her like Rei. He hadn't...killed her, like Touya. He gathered that she feared him. He was a man easily feared, he knew. Still, she was the easiest for him to talk to.

"Father?" she seemed surprised by his call. Why wouldn't she be? He hardly ever called.

"Fuyumi," he greeted, awkwardly. For a moment he couldn't think of what to say, then, "Are you at home for dinner, tonight?"

"Eh …" There was a silent pause. "Is something the matter?"

"No," he replied quickly. "I was just wondering…"

"Okay…" He heard a thousand questions in that one word, but ultimately she just said: "Sure. As always."

Fuyumi lived with him for the most part. Not that that meant they had ever spent a lot of time together.

"Okay." Awkward, again. He hesitated. "Take care with the paparazzi outside."

She ended the call on her end after another silent pause.

He had dinner with Fuyumi that evening. Truth be told, he had dinner with Fuyumi almost every evening those last few days. He had been at home a lot recently, what with his lack of direction. But they never really spoke, so they might as well have dined alone.

This day, too, their dinner started very quietly. Awkwardly. He didn't particularly know what to talk about.

"So …," she tried carefully glancing at him, and when he didn't immediately react annoyed or angry at her attempt at a conversation, she went on, "are we still avoiding the media?"

He grunted in amusement, which seemed to relax her a bit. "I always do that. We … I will have to talk to them eventually, I suppose."

"Yeah. They've, uh, never been a big fan of you." She suddenly stopped and glanced at him carefully, but was obviously surprised when he didn't react in a negative way. Apparently, she decided to be bold and test the waters a bit. "Now, less so then ever. With All Might gone and all."

She seemed to hold her breath and for a moment Enji was stunned that his daughter was actually this afraid of him. He supposed he couldn't blame her. Saying All Might's name in his presence was a sure way to sour his mood.

"Hm," grunted Enji. "I assume I'm a poor excuse for the next All Might," he admitted after a moment, making Fuyumi stare at him. "What?" questioned Enji. "It's true. I'm aware of it." He just shrugged and took another bite.

"I …" She seemed at a loss for words. "I mean … you're a good hero, I think," she said after a moment, a bit dejectedly.

He looked at her in surprise. He hadn't really expected any praise today, or anything positive, really. It made him smile. Apparently, she put in some effort, too. He knew she'd be the easiest to reconcile with.

"You think?" he asked uncertainly. He wasn't normally that self-doubting, but these days…it wasn't just his private life that was in shambles. His career too – though he finally was the Number One hero – was without direction. He had never managed to surpass All Might, after all. The one thing he had set out to do, the one thing he had sacrificed everything else for.

"You're the Number One."

Right… Before he could tell her why that didn't exactly reassure him, however, she went on:

"You always promised you'd make it. I know it's...not how you wanted it to happen, but it's done. No reason to cry over spoiled milk, right? You're the Number One, now, no matter how it happened."

He just stared at her. She … Was she right? His last thirty years of hard work, trying to catch up to All Might, had basically been rendered pointless. But...there was no need in wallowing in his self-pity. He had ruined and lost too much to this pointless endeavor already. He had to move on. He didn't really know where to go from here just yet, but anything was better than sulking like this. He wasn't normally one for self-pity. He was the Number One now; whether he could accept it or not, that didn't exactly change the facts. Endeavor couldn't waste his time pitying himself. He had a job to fulfill.

He didn't really know what to do, but this … this pathetic wallowing was not it. Enji nodded slowly, but then he changed the topic.

"What have you been up to lately?"

She told him of recent events at work. Trivial stuff that had happened at her school, things her pupils had done.

It had altogether been a nice experience. A bit clumsy, maybe, but at least it was a civil conversation with one of his children.

The next day he remembered that Rei liked white lilies, so he visited the hospital again. The doctor's turned him away, but he left the flowers for Rei. Maybe she'd see…maybe she'd realize he had been there. He still didn't exactly know what he wanted to achieve here, but it seemed a good first step.

He wanted to call Natsuo and Shoto, but he chickened out – no better way to describe it. So instead, he went to work. The first time, really, that he spent a whole day at work since All Might's retirement.

Endeavor worked rather effectively that week, he realized. With his endless pursuit of All Might out of his system, he could focus with renewed enthusiasm on the other parts of his work. He apprehended three villains that week, four the next week, and then five. He even still found time to dine with Fuyumi and visit Rei, though somewhat irregularly.

The first month passed and Endeavor found out that Shoto's class would partake at the provisional license exam. He gathered up the nerve and called Shoto then.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Shoto. It's me. I heard you're taking the provisional license exam."

There was an uncomfortably long pause, then "Father, is that you?"

"You...don't have my private phone number in your contacts?" That came as a surprise.

Shoto didn't answer for a while. "No," admitted the boy.

Enji understood. "You deleted it."

"Yeah. I'm not sorry." He sounded somewhat irritated with himself, as if he wasn't entirely certain it was the right thing to do. Enji decided not to ponder any longer on it.

"Anyway, I found out you have the exam this week."

There was an affirmative grunt.

"I might come by, you know? Watch a bit."

"No hero work to do?" asked Shoto. "I'm sure the Number One is in high demand as of late."

Enji frowned darkly. "Yeah, lots of work. I might not make it." He explained after a moment, because now he didn't feel all that eager to meet Shoto after all.

"No need to bother. I heard it's not a lot of action anyway."

A blatant lie, of course. Enji knew. "Yeah, okay. We'll see. Gotta go."

He hung up and didn't visit the exam grounds that week. Instead, he broke his new records and toppled eight separate villains that week. Two on the day of the exams, just to have a good excuse should Shoto decide differently and demand to know why he hadn't visited after all.

He sent Shoto some messages over the next few days. He also messaged Natsuo. Yhere was never a reply from either of the boys. He called Natsuo twice, but the first time Natsuo hung up the moment he realized it was his father calling, and the second time it went straight to voice mail, so he didn't try again.

Fuyumi was a blessing.

About two and a half months after All Might's retirement, there was an article in the newspaper. It was a study about villain activity since All Might's untimely farewell from the big stage, including a prognosis for the future. Endeavor couldn't help but read the paper twice. Crime had gone up significantly, and if nothing happened that would only be a taste of what was to come. Endeavor was sure he had apprehended more villains these last months than all the months before, and the paper seemed to agree that the increase in villain activity was not due to a lax handling by the heroes. Apparently, Endeavor was not the only hero who did a good job these days. Overall, the police incarcerated more villains than before All Might's retirement, and yet…the trend was undeniable. However many villains were caught, they'd just become more numerous.

He didn't understand. Of course, he knew it was because of All Might. He was no idiot. He knew that, and the article also confirmed the increase was likely due to All Might's retirement. The Symbol of Peace which he had presented himself as had crumbled with him. With him gone, villains grew ever bolder. He understood that. What he didn't understand was why? What was this "Symbol of Peace." How had All Might turned himself into such a force against the spread of villainy? And what was Endeavor supposed to do to match that symbol and curb this rising tide of evil?

He was the Number One hero, and yet he couldn't help but feel like this was his failure. What should he do? What could he do?

He remembered when he had still been a UA-student and his classmates had warned him: toppling the Symbol of Peace would only serve to strengthen the villains.

And now, with All Might gone, he could hear it crumbling. He was the Number One now, whether he wanted it or not, whether he liked how it had come to be or not. This was his position now, his responsibility, so this crumbling super-powered society…it was his responsibility, too.

He hadn't achieved this position the way he wanted to. He was, all in all, he thought, wholly unsuited for it. Most people would agree with that sentiment. After all, he was neither as strong nor as popular as All Might, nowhere close, and he didn't have the slightest clue about being the kind of symbol society needed. But all the same, it was his position now, a position he had craved for so long. He would fulfill this role that fate had conspired for him to play.

The only thing he could do from here on out was move forward. He only ever knew how to move forward.

He would be the Number One hero, he would become worthy of this position, he would do whatever was necessary, resurrect this blasted symbol that All Might had created, if at all possible. And, if he had to follow that man's footsteps even now that he was long gone, he guessed he would do that. He'd have to. Because he would not…refused to be the Number One under whose watch Japan plummeted into chaos.

That was his endeavor, now. His new endeavor.


	6. Chapter 6

**Symbol of Peace**

He thought about talking to All Might…Toshinori Yagi, now. Half the world still called him All Might, though, and it felt wrong calling him anything else. Not only out of respect, but because Endeavor had always only had a professional relationship with the man. Sure, a rather emotional relationship, what with the rivalry and aversion which Endeavor had felt for the other hero, but still a professional one. He only knew All Might. He had no clue about the man in the costume, really. The very fact that Enji never knew All Might's...true form, he assumed he had to call it...attested to the fact that they basically didn't know each other. Calling him anything but All Might seemed awfully close and personal. And even if that frail man he had turned into didn't look much like the old All Might, Endeavor would probably never call that man by any other name.

Most of the people still called him All Might, anyway, but Enji assumed that was to some degree because they didn't know his real name. It wasn't like the name Toshinori Yagi was a well-kept secret by any means. But–however, he had done it–All Might had kept his private civilian life mostly out of the news. Maybe that was the price to pay if you wanted to be regarded as a symbol rather than just another hero. Honestly, recently Endeavor thought it might have also had to do with that scrawny form of his. Now, it seemed like the fact that he was apparently dying only made him more sympathetic with the public, but of course that revelation could have also had worse consequences. Who knew…? Maybe he was ashamed of his weaker body.

He wanted to talk to All Might precisely to discuss this elusive symbol he had built up over the years. Elusive, because Endeavor had tried to grasp it, understand it, resurrect it or replace it for months without success. He hoped the former Number One could help him.

All Might was avoiding him, though. Or maybe not Endeavor specifically, but just people in general. The former Number One stayed at his school, avoiding anything and anyone not connected to his job. Endeavor couldn't exactly blame him, since Enji too avoided just about any contact with the outside world that wasn't directly related to his job. Most of all, he avoided those nosy people from the media. Still, All Might – or whoever kept All Might's schedule these days – should understand that Endeavor wasn't contacting him for an interview. So, maybe he was avoiding Endeavor. And Endeavor himself was a bit too proud to run to UA to beg for advice.

He'd just wait for an opportunity where the two would meet coincidentally. That moment would happen eventually. It surely helped that Shoto was All Might's student now. Just a matter of time.

Shoto had failed the provisional license exam. It was a bit of a shock, Endeavor had to admit, but he was surprisingly okay with it. Apparently, the boy had some sort of fight with another kid in the middle of an improvised rescue mission. Unprofessional. Though, not getting along with his colleagues and engaging in a battle of strength with them...Enji could understand the sentiment better than most. Endeavor had just learned not to have those kinds of confrontations at the job.

So of course, Shoto hadn't passed, and neither had the boy from Shiketsu, or, as Endeavor found out later, the explosion-brat. The rest of Shoto's class had apparently made it, however, so at least that spoke for UA's upheld standards.

Shoto thus had to go through extra training to get his license and Endeavor realized with a quick glance over his schedule that he actually could make time for it. He hadn't seen Shoto in a while and the boy had always liked avoiding him, so that hadn't particularly helped Endeavor in his plans to reconnect with Shoto. He hadn't gone to watch the actual exam, but since the extra training would last three months, Endeavor could watch at least once or twice without Shoto throwing a hissy fit over his presence. Surely he wouldn't be the only one watching either.

Thus, he made some space in his time table, changed and shifted some of the patrols he'd scheduled, and wrote Shoto the day before that he planned to visit.

His son didn't answer. No matter, as long as he had read the text, which he evidently had. Shoto didn't categorically ignore him. After all, it might happen that Enji had something important to say.

The next day, there was still no answer, and Enji didn't really expect one before he made his way over to the training grounds. He was early and waited above the stands until the others would arrive. He was almost annoyed that they started so late. It was already 8 am and people were only slowly coming in. School...he almost missed the times when he could sleep so long and regularly. His normal workday nowadays started at six in the morning. Five, now, since he was doing extra work to hold this new surge of villainy in check, and his patrols often lasted until deep into the night.

He was about to check his clock, musing that he could have just done a bit of work before coming here and not have missed much, when he heard that annoyingly loud showman downstairs. How Shoto and the entire staff of UA managed to work with Present Mic without their ear drums popping was a mystery to him, but at least thanks to the man's loud voice he knew that the UA group had arrived. He turned away from the stands and down the stairs in an attempt to catch Shoto before the training started, but apparently the students and their teachers had already parted ways, because when he came down the staircase neither Shoto nor the explosion-brat were anywhere to be seen.

"Well, well…if it isn't the former Number One hero?"

Endeavor drawled as he recognized scrawny All Might next to the loud-mouth.

At least All Might was here. Convenient, he thought. That way he could not only see his son but also get these nagging questions out of the way that had given him sleepless nights recently.

"My thanks for looking after Shoto."

"Endeavor!" All Might looked somewhere between shocked and exasperated to see him. From the look he gave him, it almost seemed like he had indeed tried to avoid Endeavor.

Endeavor was inexplicably angry. He was always angry when he saw that man. The mere fact that All Might was now smaller, lighter and weaker than Endeavor didn't really change the fact that this was the man he had despaired to reach for so long. He had always hated him, and that didn't change so easily. Did he honestly still feel inferior to this scrawny little twig that he could break easily without even using his quirk? Ridiculous...he shoved the thought aside.

"Good timing…" complimented Endeavor in an angry drawl. "I wanted to have a proper chat with you."

There was an awkward pause. Loud-mouth was apparently getting a bit nervous with the tension in the air, because he suddenly loudly proclaimed something about getting coffee, before he suddenly seemed to realize that he had no idea where the coffee machine was.

"We can talk in a moment," agreed All Might finally, so Endeavor stepped aside to let the two teachers pass. He followed after them back to the stands.

Present Mic and All Might talked about where to sit for a while, apparently disagreeing, and Endeavor felt his assumption that All Might didn't feel particularly confident in this weak body of his was readily confirmed. All Might didn't want to stand out. That was such an un-All Might-y thing to do that Endeavor felt angry all over again for how little of All Might this man had in himself. All Might might say that he didn't want to distract...but when had All Might ever not wanted to distract? He had always enjoyed the limelight, Endeavor thought, basically lived in it for as long as Endeavor could remember, sometimes to a degree that he outshone other heroes so much they weren't even seen.

At least...he had done that to Endeavor. Endeavor might've been the Number Two, but whenever he and All Might met he could just have as well been any hero. All Might had always been ready to stand out-give an interview, give an autograph, stand for a picture, throw around reassuring or sometimes just awfully mushy, sappy phrases. He'd been the man smiling so bright he'd been famous for it. He'd been the hero to accompany his grand entrances with the proclamation that everything was good now, because he was there. Ridiculous! When had this man ever not been distracting? He had turned himself into a giant symbol and the bane of Endeavor's existence, and now, scrawny as he was, he suddenly didn't want to distract anymore...no way would Endeavor believe that this had nothing to do with feeling embarrassed.

Enji looked down to the arena where he could see the students now. And there was…

"SHOTO!" He screamed and just barely stopped himself from waving. "You shouldn't be stumbling around a place like this! You're better than that!" All Might stared at him as if he were crazy, but Enji didn't really care. He was primarily here to watch Shoto, after all. Cheer the kid on a bit! "Now get out there and show them that you're in a class of your own!"

His son didn't even look up. Rather, he seemed to pointedly look away, almost as if he were embarrassed. Endeavor crossed his arms over his chest when he realized that while Shoto pointedly looked away, everybody else stared at him.

"Ah … No way!" He heard the other students mumble among themselves. "It's Endeavor."

"The Number Two …" started somebody before catching themselves, "uh, I mean Number One hero …!" Endeavor found the mistake didn't really make him angry anymore. Not really at least, though it was a bit annoying.

"You serious? What's he doing here?" They seemed a bit intimidated as they looked up to where he stood at the top of the stands, then there was a sudden shift in the mood. Suddenly the noise erupted.

"See?" he heard All Might mumble annoyed. "Here we go…"

"It's All Might! Why is he here!?" they cheered and even waved at scrawny All Might, who looked a bit uncomfortable. Endeavor just frowned at that behavior. He should just be himself, damn it. Smile and wave and do all the crappy stuff he normally did to get the people to like him so much in the first place.

Shoto wasn't cheering, Enji realized. He knew that Shoto was an All Might fan. Had always been, even before Endeavor had started training him. Little Shoto had wanted to become a hero like All Might. Enji had always known, though Shoto had never actually told him, probably because he feared his reaction. Not without reason. Back then, the realization that his youngest son was just another All Might-Fanboy had been a bit shocking, had made him a bit angrier. He hadn't really said anything against it though, ever, because, in a way, turning Shoto into a hero even better at being All Might had been Endeavor's goal from the start.

While the people down in the Arena explained the training for the day, Endeavor followed All Might and Present Mic to a group of seats somewhere in the center of the stands. Endeavor sat a bit away from the other two, leaving a seat between them, because he really did not appreciate being close to people. It made him claustrophobic or...something. He'd much rather prefer standing by himself than sitting in a crowd. He still wanted to talk to All Might, but he didn't exactly want to talk in front of Present Mic. If they could get a minute of privacy, he'd actually consider meeting All Might some other time rather than talk here among witnesses. That would've been a waste of time, though, so he really hoped the showman would make himself scarce, soon.

They sat opposite a different group of onlookers-from Shiketsu, he assumed-but other than them the stands were mostly empty. He had somewhat expected more people to come and watch or cheer for their friends and family.

Down in the arena Gang Orca appeared, doing … well, his thing. Orca had always had a thing for acting like an asshole. Unlike with Endeavor–Enji had at least that much self-reflection–it was just an act for Orca. The man was a softy if Endeavor had ever seen one. Not quite as bad as All Might, who loved coddling everybody around him, and he certainly didn't look like it, but the first time Endeavor had worked with him he had almost been disappointed. There Endeavor had been, thinking he'd finally found a like-minded hero with a bit of a temper, who just said what he thought, did what he wanted, and didn't care much about public opinion. Well, now he knew better.

The kids didn't know that, yet, though. So maybe Orca's insults still got to them. Or…well they didn't look offended, if Endeavor was honest. Explosion-brat...was maybe a bit angry, yeah. But Shoto smart-mouthed at Orca, and Endeavor had almost thought it funny. Also, where did the kid get those wits from? It was certainly not how Endeavor would have reacted, who even now felt a bit angry at Orca for insulting his son.

In the end Shoto, Explosion-brat and the two from Shiketsu were put on a special assignment project. Orca made it seem like there was a big battle to come but Endeavor already feared that this was not it. He knew the requirements for a provisional license after all, and at least of Shoto and his classmate didn't lack battle prowess as far as he knew.

He should really go home, he mused. He had no interest in watching his son…babysit children? Okay, that was a bit surprising, even for Endeavor. It made sense, he assumed, but it was also an annoying task if ever he had seen one. He was mostly looking out for Shoto, but the explosive classmate seemed more along Endeavor's line of thinking.

Truth be told, as Endeavor watched the four students struggle with a class of noisy brats, Endeavor, too, didn't really know what he would do in that situation. Saving kids? Sure, any day of the week. Easy. He might not be the most considerate, but even he was able to say a few reassuring words if needed, and if the kids were just bratty, he was strong enough to just save them and carry them to safety kicking and screaming. Most kids, when they actually were in need of being saved, were rather happy if not utterly stunned and in awe to see a hero save them. Any hero, really. And Endeavor was widely known, which helped. Often, they were afraid or a bit out of it, but he could deal with that, too. Of course, there were the odd kids who thought themselves better than the heroes coming to save them–especially now, it seemed–but even they were easily carried to safety.

Saving kids, he could do. Entertaining them, teaching them...well, he was a hero, not a teacher. He knew that nowadays it was widely regarded as a hero's job to also provide guidance not just in matters of safety but in pretty much all matters of life. He was also well-aware of the inspiring affect many heroes could have on the people, especially kids. But…one might call Endeavor old-school, but he still thought a hero's job was mainly fighting villains, protecting and rescuing civilians, and teaching and training the next generation of heroes. If his actions as a hero inspired people, all the better, but he was no teacher. His daughter, Fuyumi, was a teacher. He knew her job required a different skillset than his.

He knew for a fact that he couldn't teach or guide these children. He had, after all, screwed up bad enough with his own.

Endeavor watched Shoto and the other three try and fail to get the kids to listen to them, when suddenly the flame hero was distracted by Present Mic's obnoxious voice.

"My M.C. Soul! It's reaching its limit!" cried the Hero, and Endeavor thought for a moment that his eardrums were popping. How did All Might take it, sitting next to the screaming teacher? Endeavor even had trouble understanding what Present Mic was talking about, when suddenly Mic stood up and hurried away, apparently to try and get some...soul into this event?

Endeavor was almost glad to be rid of the guy, though shortly afterwards his loud commentary echoed through the entire arena. That was almost worse.

"I guess he's looking out for them in his own way," said All Might.

Endeavor wasn't sure whether he was talking to him, so he just 'humpfed' in annoyed agreement.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" said All Might finally to him. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know what to say to you in my current state…"

So, was it true? Had he been avoiding Endeavor? Was he embarrassed, or what?

Endeavor watched the children for another moment, sorting his thoughts. He was surprisingly not angry. Annoyed, maybe, at the noisy commentary, but not angry. He felt tired. He didn't enjoy asking for advice from All Might of all people. Like he'd lost to him all over again.

And while any other day the thought of 'losing to All Might again' would have ignited his rage, now it just made him more exhausted.

"Are you aware…" started the current Number One hero after a pause, watching Shoto but not really acknowledging what was happening down on the training grounds, "over the past month, the crime rate has risen by three percent compared to the average year." It felt like admitting defeat when he said it. Endeavor suppressed a sigh. Enji was not one to sigh, never had been. He was a man of action…but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Nothing to change the facts. "I…" he hesitated a moment. "Throughout my career I have resolved more incidents than anyone else…and recently, more so than ever. And yet…" He was gripping his arm hard, felt his fingers digging into his flesh. "I can hear it. I can hear the sound of that invisible…'something' you built up over the years crumbling away."

He felt All Might's eyes on him, but he didn't look back at the former Number One. He was still watching the kids down on the field, not really seeing them at all. That Symbol of Peace...he had to know how to resurrect it to do this job properly. The job he had always wanted to do, that he had worked so hard to achieve even if it had eventually fallen to him as no achievement of his own.

"Tell me, former Number One Hero: Just what is the Symbol of Peace?"

He had hoped for a straight answer–any answer, to be honest. But All Might remained quiet and in deep thought, while Endeavor watched that Bakugo kid and the brat from Shiketsu try and fail to get the attention and respect of the children. While All Might remained quiet, Endeavor suddenly found himself rambling, saying all the things he had never told or admitted to anybody. He hadn't come here to spill out his heart or tell this man his life story, but now he couldn't stop.

"I've entrusted everything to Shoto. When I was twenty years old, I had already climbed my way up to the number two spot." He didn't even know if All Might was listening, yet he couldn't stop, like he needed this man to know and to understand. Endeavor didn't remember ever rambling like this…ever even just talking that much to anybody. He was not a social person. "And because I climbed that far…I understood it almost immediately." He remembered the feeling of despair as he saw All Might's true might. Remembered the frustration and desperation, what it had led him to do. He remembered the struggle to keep going, to try harder knowing it would be futile. This endless endeavor. "That I would never be able to reach the summit."

He laughed somewhat flippantly, as if trying to play over his own insecurities, as if trying to hide the admittance of his despair behind hollow laughter. "If all I wanted was the title, I could have foolishly smiled to everyone like you, and just played the crowd-pleaser." He bet that some of the people would want just that. When the media came swarming his house after getting the Number One position asking for statements, he could bet half of them were out to hear some dishonest comment about how happy he was to achieve the position, how he would try his best, smiling into the camera like an idiot. The other half of the journalists and paparazzi, he was sure, had been out to get a juicy scandal or something. Media people worked like that. He gritted his teeth.

"But I wanted to be stronger than anyone else." He had often been laughed at for this goal of his. Mocked not to his face but behind his back. He could still hear the mumbled ridicules. How futile his struggle was, how he would never manage it, how it would be smarter to just give up and live with what he had. He wondered if it was wrong of him to pursue this goal, to struggle to get stronger, to uphold a rivalry that nobody but him ever even acknowledged existed in the first place. Because what was a rivalry if one of the parties was never strong enough to even rival the other.

He didn't know what else to say to explain himself and why he was here now. He was just waiting for the answer that refused to come.

"This isn't like you at all," said All Might after another moment.

"Just shut up and answer me!" bellowed Endeavor enraged. Embarrassed. He, of all people, being caught rambling. To All Might. That really wasn't like him.

All Might needed another moment to think, then he started to explain-tried and failed to explain, really. He chose his words carefully. "To be honest," started the blond, "I have no idea what to say." Very helpful…"I simply believed that this country was in need of a symbol, and I ran at full speed chasing my goal." Endeavor understood that sentiment at least. After all, it was all he had ever done: chasing after a goal at full speed. "A powerful light …can serve as a beacon of hope for the people and a warning for the villains. I swore to myself that I would become that light, and kept running until I made it that far." Yeah, that was the difference, Endeavor reminded himself. While Endeavor ran for that unreachable goal all his life, All Might reached his dream eventually. How had he done it, though?

"The people out on the street were always making such anxious faces. No matter how many heroes there were out there, crime would not decrease."

Yes, Endeavor thought, this was his problem, the realization he had come to now, as well. That was why he was here. To find out how to change this.

"The people were afraid…much more than they are now."

Endeavor didn't quite remember those times, if he were honest. He'd been a child. All Might had built his Symbol of Peace so early, that when Endeavor had started his career it was already firmly established. He'd never lived through the chaos before. Only seen it briefly when he had been a teenager.

"I ignored the kindness of the people around me and pushed most of them away. That is the path I chose." There was regret in All Might's voice and Endeavor remembered what he had read a few days ago about Sir Nighteye's fatal mission.

"Your former Sidekick, huh?" asked Endeavor in the ensuing silence. There was only more silence from All Might after that, until…

"Endeavor," started All Might again, "I know full well the kind of situation you're in…" Of course he would, he'd been in the same position, hadn't he? "And what the world is saying about you." That…All Might had never had to deal with, Endeavor thought. All Might had always been loved by the people, the press. Endeavor was...well, not All Might, and everybody knew.

"There are many people out there who compare the two of us to one another. But you and I are different." Endeavor knew that well enough. He had, after all, tried long enough and hard enough to reach the other hero to understand that much. Endeavor had always ever only been second to All Might.

"There is no need for you to follow in my footsteps" said All Might and Endeavor finally turned away from the training children to look at the former greatest hero, "and become the same type of symbol I aimed to become."

It was the first time, Endeavor thought, that anybody had ever told him not to be like All Might since he had reached this Number One position.

"You simply need your own way of doing things. And there's no need to rush it."

The first time really, that anybody –and All Might of all people –acknowledged that Endeavor could do it, not by imitating All Might, but by finding his own way.

Endeavor didn't know what to say to that. Searching for words, he overheard Present Mic's obnoxious commentary.

"Allrighty then! Looks like he's up next. He's somewhere in between cool and composed and burning with passion!" Shoto! Endeavor thought, his head whipping around to see his son more on instinct than as a conscious movement. "Todoroki Shoto!"

"SHOTO!" cheered Endeavor.

The commentator kept talking his nonsense as Shoto stepped forward in front of the kids, then turning around to glare at Endeavor. Endeavor's jaw suddenly snapped shut, his cheers dying out as his son glared at him in his contempt.

"I'm not Five-peepee-man. I'm a UA student and aspiring hero, and my name is Shoto" heard Endeavor. "My father is Endeavor, the Number One Hero, and I've always resented him."

Yeah...Endeavor knew. No matter how much he tried, he had screwed up with Shoto. With all of his kids really, and his wife. And he knew it.

"So, I set my sights on becoming a hero in order to get back at him." Endeavor remembered the tournament. Shoto might have tried to get back at him then, but really, it had in many ways been the first step to mend the breach between them, at least to a degree. "I didn't mesh well with my classmates and…"

At that point Shoto got cut off by the bored children and the commentator. Endeavor watched his son give up without much of a fight and re-joining with his friends. Then, suddenly the action erupted.

Those kids really had no sense of holding back their quirks as they suddenly started a full-front attack. They were also just kids, so Endeavor didn't really fear for any of the students, but someone really should beat...teach them some manners. Endeavor scolded himself. This would not do.

In the end, Shoto and the Wind-guy built a huge ice-slide and the children were apparently having a blast. Endeavor had watched quietly when All Might suddenly spoke up again at his side.

"For what reason are we equipped with our powers…" started All Might, without the flame hero even asking for more advice –not that he felt the advice given had helped him much, yet. "Endeavor, the answer to that must be quite simple."

Endeavor only looked down at the children, at his son, Shoto, showing his flames to a girl and warming her cold fingers. It was, he suddenly realized, really quite simple. He had to secure a future for them.

For Shoto, for his other children…for the next generation, and the one after them. That was his job now as the Number One Hero. Not to smile stupidly into the camera, not to reassure everybody that he would be able to defeat any villain, overcome any obstacle, if he couldn't, but to prevent this country from falling into chaos. To protect it, them, make sure that future generations had a future and the peace they needed to prosper.

He didn't know how to do it. He knew how All Might had done it, but apparently, they both agreed that Endeavor couldn't do it that same way. He'd have to find his own way to protect their futures.

But if so...if protecting their future was his job as a hero...what about the future he had cut short? He thought about Rei, about Shoto down there, about Fuyumi at home and Natsuo, who was avoiding him. He thought about Touya.

What about the lives he had ruined already?


	7. Chapter 7

**Just watch me!**

He waited with All Might, Present Mic and the group from Shiketsu outside of the training hall. It wasn't like he wanted to...mingle with the other heroes. He was waiting for Shoto and they just happened to be there. He had to talk to Shoto. He'd come here to find a start, make a first step. His starting line, so to say. If he went without talking to Shoto, he'd just have wasted this opportunity. It couldn't go any worse than wrong, and that would still be better than not even trying at all. He'd never been one to give up, never mind giving up before even trying in the first place.

The teachers and representatives of both schools were talking about the possibility of another joint training venture, when the students joined them. There was some fawning over All Might, some bratty arguing between the purple haired visitor from Shiketsu and the other students, and during all that Enji made his way toward Shoto almost unnoticed.

"Long time no see, Shoto," greeted Endeavor looking down at his son. This feels awkward, he thought, as his son glared up at him. He reached out to pat his son on the head or the shoulder. He didn't even know which to aim for-he'd never been good at this father-thing. "You've changed a lot."

Before he could touch his son, Shoto jerked back, slapping his hand away. Enji froze in his advance. "Shut up!"

"Shoto," muttered Enji quietly. He let his hand sink and made no further attempt to pat or get closer to his son. "I'm proud of you, son."

There was an angry glare by Shoto, and Enji didn't quite know how to react to that, so he just went on, said what he felt he had to say. What he should have said a thousand times already. "So...I will become a hero you can be proud of, too."

Shoto seemed a bit stunned and perplexed.

"Your father is The Number One Hero...the greatest man." Was he fishing for a reaction, a comment, an answer or at least some acknowledgement from his son? Maybe, maybe not. All he knew was that, if what he said was true, he had to earn it. "So I will dedicate myself towards being worthy of that title. For your sake."

Shoto just awkwardly rubbed his neck. "Do whatever you want..."

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. Enji was lost for a moment, didn't know what to do, when suddenly the Shiketsu-kid with the crew cut brutally punched himself in the face and marched toward Endeavor with the brisk step of a man on a mission. Endeavor realized that he must have listened in on their whole father-son conversation, and had something to say. "Endeavor!" The flame hero was almost sure the boy would mow him down like a train running him over, when the kid stopped right in front of him.

"...I'll be cheering you on."

Uh...Endeavor needed a moment to understand the sentiment. "T-thank you," said Endeavor, a bit surprised until he realized the kid was bleeding all over. "You're bleeding a lot." The kid didn't seem concerned about this.

"Well then," said All Might, before Endeavor had to think of something else to say to Crew Cut or Shoto. "Let's go." Endeavor felt almost thankful that All Might saved him from potentially ruining what would be his first step on his path to...

What, exactly? Being honest, he still didn't know. But he would make it. There was only one way forward, and as the students and teachers of the two schools parted for the buses, Endeavor found himself marching in the opposite direction.

Becoming a hero his son could be proud of. Maybe he had ruined that already. Maybe it was already impossible. Maybe he had pushed Shoto to a point were acknowledgement and pride in his father was an impossible thing for him. No matter...Endeavor had more experience than anybody in trying to reach a far away and possibly unreachable goal. This one, at least, was a goal worth pursuing, even if he would never reach it.

Making their children proud...that was anything any father could want, was it not? He had just started very late. Too late? Perhaps. But that didn't change his endeavor.

Over the next few days, he found himself thinking All Might's words over again and again. He hadn't really learned much knew but he felt like he had come to a new realization or understanding – sort of – that he had always had somewhere in the back of his mind but had always pushed away as it stood as an obstacle in his path.

He visited Rei again. Left a lily with her doctors and even managed to throw a fleeting glance at her, though she didn't see. It was still too risky for the couple to meet, the doctors said, and Endeavor respected their judgement.

He called Natsuo again, to no avail, and he dined with Fuyumi a few days later.

"You're right," he told her. "Now that I am the Number One, it's time I take up that mantle and fulfill the position." She glanced at him questioningly. He had started that conversation with no set up whatsoever.

"I know you'll make it," she said cautiously, but he didn't know if she meant it or if she was just trying to be polite.

"Thank you. I don't exactly know how to go about it yet. But I'll try to..." His voice drifted away mid-sentence, unsure of what he wanted to say. She furrowed her brow. "I'll make you proud," he promised to her, but mostly to himself. He'd at least try all he could to become a hero his kids could be proud of. Not one they had to feel ashamed of. Not one who was so despised by his own children that Shoto would walk up to a bunch of kid's telling them how much he reviled being Endeavor's son.

A hero his children would be proud of. It was a good objective, he thought.

He didn't know what Fuyumi thought, or if she agreed. She seemed mostly surprised by his declaration, then she coughed silently as if in embarrassment and changed the topic. He didn't mind. He wouldn't push them. He'd show them. Let his actions speak and let them make their own decisions. For once, he would not be demanding.

He had an invitation, he realized that evening, to the announcement of the new Billboard Hero Top Ten. Adjoined was a somewhat informal letter congratulating him on his Number One Position. He knew there would be a formal document, almost like a certificate, at the day of the ceremony. They normally sent it in the mail, since he never attended.

Enji stared at the invitation for a moment, reading it twice, not because he didn't understand the first time, but because he simply couldn't stop staring at the piece of paper.

How would he go about fulfilling this position, living up to it, securing a future for future generations by being the symbol necessary to dwarf villains' efforts? He had to be this symbol, a symbol of whatever was necessary. Not because he wanted to. He had to. There was no one else who could.

He looked at an old newspaper to the side. The hero Snatch had been murdered after the battle with the Shi Hassaikai by members of the League of Villains. Snatch...his old classmate, Sajin Higawara. And shortly after that, Sir Nighteye–All Mights former Sidekick–had died in hospital from injuries he suffered in this battle. At other places, other heroes struggled...and it was his responsibility to do something, to stop the villains from growing stronger and stronger by the day.

One of his few friends had died and yet, he, The Number One Hero, hadn't done anything at all. He had just sat there and waited for the grand idea that would solve all his problems. He had even shied the press and the limelight, annoyed by everybody trying to compare him to All Might.

He hadn't known what to do for so long, but it was so obvious. Just like he had told Fuyumi, he would just show them. He had trained all his life for this. He knew he was strong. Not as strong as All Might had been, but strong enough. He had to be. As The Number One Hero, he could not fall or falter or hide behind the walls of his home.

It was time he stepped out there, time he took up that mantle, time he showed himself. He didn't like how he had achieved this position, but now that he had it, there was no point in crying over it. He had waited so long for this moment. It was time he told them: here I come!

He was not like All Might. Not a man of many smiles, nice little interviews, reassuring words and easy companionship. But he was strong, and he could show that. That would be his way. Not smiling, not reassuring with words, not befriending everybody, not placating the masses. He didn't want to do that. He wouldn't be good at it. He didn't think he'd achieve anything with it apart from looking fake. He was not a man of words and niceties, but of action. He would show them, let his actions speak, let them come to their own conclusion, and be there for them to rely on.

If nothing else, he would show Japan that he could be the one they could rely on, ensure them that he would protect them. He would send the same massage to his fellow heroes, and if the threat should be too strong for him, he would outlast them with sheer tenacity. He was good at that, at least.

He'd go to this ceremony, at long last. It was also time, he decided, for a new costume. A costume fitting of the Number One.

It turned out he was not the only one who had decided to stand up and take responsibility that day. He hardly remembered a single year in which more than one hero of the top ten had arrived to watch the ceremony and receive the award. Now, Best Jeanist aside, the Top Ten heroes were all in attendance. On top of that, he met many of the Top 50 heroes and some of the lower ranks in the audience and among the invited guests.

Maybe he could do this. Maybe they could do this, because he suddenly realized he was not in this alone. They were all there. Even though they didn't tell him that they were on his side. Even though it was obvious they were still comparing him to All Might, still mourning over All Might's retirement, still doubtful whether he could carry that burden. They were all there, trying to make a difference. And they all had the same goal.

As it turned out, he was not the only one seeing the resurgence of villainy go on unabated. Not the only one struggling to fulfill their position in this chaotic age, without a shining beacon of peace in front of them.

The only one who didn't seem caught up in the tension was Hawks, Endeavor thought, as he listened to the other heroes giving their reassuring comments, hopeful pleasantries, and declarations of war towards the villains. Endeavor was a bit annoyed himself with their niceties, but he always was annoyed with heroes acting for the media and their audience. He very much still appreciated that they were here and expressed their will to work for a new era of peace.

Hawks, however, was being outright disrespectful towards the older heroes. He was only 22, and Endeavor vaguely remembered how cocky he himself had been when he had first ranked Number Two, though that cockiness had soon been dampened with the frustrating knowledge that he'd never reach All Might. Still, his age didn't quite excuse how Hawks almost yawned throughout the other heroes' interviews, or how he quietly mumbled to Endeavor during the ceremony, asking how it was to be first place finally.

Maybe that comment alone had been enough for Endeavor to decide he didn't like the brat. Just by his attitude, he felt like Hawks was silently judging or insulting him. The bird-brat even interrupted Edgeshot during his interview, which finally made all the other heroes mad at the kid as well.

"I believe that fostering peace is the essence of heroism," Edgehot said, when Hawks suddenly cut in, with avoice that managed to sound both bored and challenging.

"Who cares about any of that?" There was stunned and tense silence in the room.

The bunny-girl, Mirko, had to comment on that, of course. The two lived close enough that they had to have worked with each other before. They were also both fairly young. Endeavor hadn't had the pleasure to work with Hawks yet. Not really. They had been involved in a mountain rescue mission together once, and Endeavor hadn't seen much of the bird-man. But apparently, judging by Mirko's comment, it seemed like Hawks acted like this regularly.

"Hey, I'm just bad at keeping it in," shrugged the kid, flapping his wings before suddenly rising above their heads until he was flying just high enough to force Endeavor and all the other heroes on stage to look up at him. "Let's see...if we're going just by approval ratings, Best Jeanist would be first due to the extra boost of support during his recovery," started Hawks. "I would be second, Edgeshot would be third, Endeavor would be fourth, and so on." Endeavor glared up at the kid. So, was this what this was about? Did Hawks think Enji didn't deserve his number one spot? He was surely not the only one, but this bold challenge, today of all days, when Endeavor had wanted to make his grand entrance, made him angry. He didn't burst into angry flames right there on stage, though. Endeavor had learned to reign in his rage, in public at least. It didn't do for a hero to accidentally destroy foreign property just because he threw a hissy fit.

"I think approval ratings are the most important metric right now. Is this the time to be clinging to the past?" Was Hawks of all people–the kid among them-rising to this occasion, literally, to hold a revolutionary speech instead of just offering the normal platitudes? Endeavor hadn't expected that. "Is it still okay to uphold the status quo? We no longer have a symbol. Why are people who can't even earn a higher rank than me being so tame and subdued on a day that's supposedly deemed to be a 'turning point'?" Endeavor wondered silently how his fellow heroes took this slight, that at least wasn't entirely directed at him this time. "Please speak more like real heroes."

There was some mumbling from the audience now, though Endeavor couldn't make out the words, couldn't even understand if they were agreeing with the young hero or wondering whether he had gone mad.

"That's all from me," ended Hawks suddenly rushing back down to the stage back to where he had lifted off from next to Endeavor. "So, next in line, with lower approval ratings than me, the Number One."

Endeavor couldn't help it as he ripped the microphone out of Hawks' hand and gave the stupidly grinning kid another angry glare. There was more mumbling in the audience, as Endeavor collected himself.

This was not the time to react in anger. He himself could even to a degree understand what the kid was saying. He had been annoyed with his colleagues' habit to only feed nice and reassuring platitudes to the press and the public for as long as Endeavor could remember. He never gave much interviews just to avoid that pressure. For as long as he remembered, his fellow heroes had seemed nothing but content in their positions, never trying to get better, to catch up, to climb to the top. Not only had they never tried to catch up to All Might, they had never even tried to catch up to Endeavor. It had always wondered Endeavor–in his youth it had even angered him–how they all could be so complacent to the known order of things.

So, Endeavor understood the kid's words. However, Hawks more than anybody made the impression of a complacent hero without any grand ambitions of his own. This irked Endeavor, as if that were true, Hawks would not have the position he had. The kid annoyed him, because he couldn't grasp what Hawks was all about. What did he want? It clearly wasn't a ranking in the Top Ten, so why challenge Endeavor outright? Was he trying to vie for Number One after all? Was he just trying to topple Endeavor without really caring for the position himself? It clearly was a challenge, although Enji was unsure if it was a challenge for Number One or just a challenge at Endeavor and his fellow heroes to finally stand up and grasp their futures with their own hands instead of relying on a vague and undefinable Symbol of Peace that was long gone.

It didn't matter, thought Endeavor, for he knew what he had to say.

"Apart from what that novice just tried to stir up..." started Endeavor quietly brushing his rage aside and remembering his conversation with All Might. To what end he had this power? The answer was simple indeed.

"As the new Number One, there is not much for me to say." He paused shortly. "Just watch me."

He was somewhat annoyed, that the first person clapping–reacting at all, really–was the brat next to him. The audience seemed stunned into silence, until he heard some careful clapping. But he had known he wouldn't elicit a strong reaction of support and applause. He'd have to earn that.

The kid visited him in the room assigned to Endeavor after the show. Endeavor couldn't help but show his anger then.

"What was that all about, you little brat!?" clamored Endeavor, grabbing the kid's coat while his flames surged angrily from his new costume, almost swallowing Endeavor whole. The kid was left flailing and laughing with half-hearted apologies.

"Everyone just says the same old things, so I thought a little extra impact was necessary," said the kid, smiling, while clearly also feeling a bit uncomfortable with Endeavor's Hellflames so close.

"You were testing me, huh?" said Endeavor, more a statement than a question.

"No way! I helped you out, didn't I?" Endeavor paused. He had...somewhat at least. Endeavor had to agree the kid had prepared the stage for him well enough. But he refused to believe that this had been the point of his little speech. "Didn't it all turn out well?" Endeavor let him go finally.

"I'm not even really a fan of all Might," admitted Hawks to Endeavor's surprise. Who the hell wasn't a fan of All Might? The blond hero had always been everybody's favorite. Sure, there were the Best Jeanist-fangirls, the more edgy kids liked Edgeshot, and some fans liked the classic heroes of old or some more unknown heroes, often only to stand out from the mainstream masses, Endeavor assumed. But just in general, everybody always liked All Might. Enji's own kids liked All Might.

"I've never thought once about trying to be like him. But regardless, I was still shocked by his retirement", the kid went on. "I wouldn't say you're an iconic presence like All Might was. However...I think having a new leader right now is absolutely necessary." Endeavor just frowned, because he couldn't even find fault with the kid's logic. They did need a new leader. That was the whole point of Endeavor being here today. To stand up to the challenge. "I'm relieved. You were cool, you know."

Now, this was...Endeavor didn't know if the kid spoke the truth or was just mocking him somehow. From his easy tone, it could be both. It annoyed the crap out of Endeavor that he couldn't read the kid. "Do you plan on becoming that leader?" asked Endeavor after a moment of trying and failing to understand Hawks' intentions.

"Do I look like I'm of that caliber?" Hawks burst into uncontrolled laughter. "I would prefer to operate more freely in a lower rank...between Ranks 20 and 30, or so" he added happily.

So not an ambitious one after all. Just one who rose through the ranks by being very well-liked. It didn't seem to fit. Nobody achieved the Number Two position by just public approval ratings alone. Especially since Best Jeanist had better ratings and was still ranked below Hawks. The kid was either joking or hiding something, but still Endeavor somewhat believed that he had no real ambition to rise higher in the ranks. Damn it...the kid could have done it. He could become an actual challenge for Endeavor, and Endeavor hadn't had anybody challenging him since forever. Endeavor didn't like people who didn't take this job seriously. Who just wanted to lean back without any goal in life.

"I hate people like you the most," Endeavor grumbled angrily. "We're done talking. Go and apologize to the others."

"Ah, but I do have a request!" laughed Hawks then.

That made Endeavor angry all over again. He was done with the kid. "I'm not listening! Out of my sight!" bellowed Endeavor struggling to hold his flames in check.

"I request a team-up." Wait, what? Endeavor found himself listening and waiting for more information. "Some unpleasant first-hand reports have been cropping up in my hometown recently. Do you remember the Nomu?"

Endeavor turned and stared at the kid. He did...very much so.

He had fought them in Hosu, and then again in Kamino. Modified humans or...humans that were enhanced by a multitude of quirks that made them lose their mind, but could also give them powers to even rival All Might. He hadn't quite understood the concept, and the people involved weren't exactly forthcoming with their information, but he knew the basics. The Nomu he had fought during both incidents had been weaker or incomplete versions–hardly more than a headache for Endeavor–but the one that had attacked the students and teachers at the USJ had fought eye-to-eye with All Might.

"Go on," demanded Endeavor quietly.

"We should meet at my place. Get something to eat and exchange information." Hawks smiled at him with this stupidly carefree smile.

Sure, sure...as if he had nothing better to do than dine with a colleague. "I'll have to get some things in order," declared Endeavor. He still had his own cases to work, but he'd make room for this meeting. Anything related to the League of Villains and the Nomu had a high priority. "I'll call you."

A Nomu ...he hoped there wasn't really a Nomu in Hawks' hometown. However, if there was...this might just be the opportunity he was waiting for. He had asked the public and his family to watch him. Now he just needed to do something big. He didn't hope for a Nomu attack, but if it happened on his watch, that might be just what he needed.

And if not, he'd just wait for the big incident that would undoubtedly happen sooner or later. The League of Villains was on the move, as was just about any small-time villain. And Endeavor would show them all, one way or the other.

All Might wasn't here anymore, and the villains of Japan got bold without his threatening presence. It was time, Endeavor told them. Time for him to put them in their place.

He would show them: the villains, the people, his fellow heroes, his family. He'd become a hero the world could be proud of, a hero the world could rely on, a hero the world could trust, a hero that could protect as many people as possible. That was–after all–his endeavor.


	8. Chapter 8

**Not Alone**

The next day he found himself trailing down the main roads of Hawks' hometown next to the hero, distinctly annoyed that his younger companion thought it necessary to parade them around the city center instead of just meeting at his office or the restaurant to make this meeting as quick and efficient as possible. Instead, Endeavor just watched in increasing irritation, as Hawks catered to the masses – in this case, the people of his hometown. It was no surprise to Endeavor, then, that the kid's approval ratings were so high despite his young age.

He was talking to his fans left and right, smiling for a selfie, carrying an old woman's grocery bags up the stairwell, and saving a runaway dog from being driven over by a car, all the while talking to Endeavor and greeting his fans.

At the very least, he also used the time to take down a villain about to attack his former workplace – if what the villain had screamed had been any indication – though it only annoyed Endeavor even more so that Hawks did it just as casually as smiling for a photograph or carrying the old lady's grocery bags.

The brat was infuriating, but Endeavor found himself quietly accepting the charade, waiting patiently as Hawks was at one point surrounded by fans and stopped to smile for more pictures and give a few autographs.

Endeavor crossed his arms and stood to the side with a deep scowl on the face, but patient nonetheless. It wasn't like he was ignored by the people. They did stare at him from afar, as if he were some odd alien specimen. But they didn't dare come any closer than necessary. He heard some of them mumble his name among each other, asking what he was doing here, saying how scary he was, but not coming any closer. While they drew a tight circle around Hawks, they left a respectfully intimidated gap where Endeavor stood at his side.

He was surveying the people for a while before looking down the street to the massive building he knew was their destination. Really, they couldn't arrive soon enough, he thought.

Endeavor only looked back to what was happening in front of him, when he heard somebody say his name with what sounded like admiration, rather than the normal respectful suspicion.

"Yo, get his autograph!" a kid with a shark-quirk said pointing at him.

"What, no way!" replied another boy at once.

"Didn't you say you liked him?" asked a third child.

"I do!" That was the second again. A kid with light hair and a thick scarf around his neck. "But it's different!"

Endeavor now turned toward them fully, looking at them for a while, considering with himself what he should do. He never met many of his own fans. He had them, obviously. The public approval ratings showed as much. But he never met them, never knew where they were hiding. It was part of the reason why he was always surprised to find out he was among the Top Ten in terms of public approval. From what he gathered from most people's reactions, it seemed like they were intimidated, suspicious, or disapproving of him. He remembered some rare instances of people gathering the courage to ask him for an autograph – especially in his earlier years when his attitude hadn't been widely known yet – but he had never been very forthcoming, so that was something that rarely happened anymore.

Endeavor took a moment to come to the conclusion that, if he were truly turning a new leaf, he could also try being more open with what fanbase he had.

The kids looked positively terrified as he stared at them for a moment. And when he moved closer their reaction was even more obvious.

"He's coming! He's coming here!" stuttered shark-boy.

"Huh? Hugh!? You're kidding! You've gotta be kidding!" The kid in the scarf who supposedly was the Endeavor-fan between the three looked both terrified and awed. "Oh crap, crap, crap! His new costume is so sick!"

Endeavor blinked at the compliment. Oh, yeah, his new costume was great. A costume fitting for the number one hero. Good thing someone finally noticed. His PR and Design teams had positively slaved over the new design for the last week.

He stopped in front of the kid, extending a hand. "Come now, you don't have to be afraid." He had never done this before, but he felt this couldn't be too difficult. Just say hi, shake hands, give an autograph, maybe. All the other heroes were able to do it well enough. And he thought he was doing fine.

The way the kid stared at him, though, with huge shocked eyes, something seemed to be off. "No, that's all wrong!" He stammered after a moment.

Endeavor blinked surprised, then frowned. "W-what's all wrong!?" He asked maybe a bit too angrily. Had he done something wrong? He thought he had done just what all his colleagues always did. He couldn't gather what the kid was talking about.

"Endeavor doesn't need fan service!" The kid almost looked as if it wanted to cry. Was he angry? "The lone wolf attitude is what makes you cool!"

Endeavor just stared stunned. The kid's friends seemed equally surprised by the outbreak. Suddenly the kid whirled around running away and leaving both his friends and Endeavor behind, thoroughly confused and maybe a bit embarrassed.

"He's changed! He's changed all of a sudden!" The kid cried as his friends made to follow him.

So, he had made a mistake? This looked so easy when others were doing it. And it had seemed natural enough when he'd spoken to the Shiketsu-brat. He didn't really know what he should do. He knew why he hated interacting with the public. He could never make them happy. First, they want him to be like All Might, be nice and all, then they tell him off when he tries. Fans were so complicated. He knew why he hadn't even bothered all those years before.

Later, as he brought the subject up to Hawks, the brat just laughed at him. It wasn't like Endeavor had really hoped for advice – not from a 22-year-old kid, no! – but …he hadn't expected the kid to just laugh at him. Apparently, Hawks told him, he had the image of grumpy old man or something. Made perfect sense, he thought, but he hadn't thought that that exactly was what his few fans actually liked about him. This made things so much more complicated.

He watched, a bit grossed out, as Hawks stuffed his stomach with enough food to feed an entire family, while Endeavor only ate a little. He was here to do business, not to eat or joke around – and frankly, watching Hawks munch on his food made Endeavor forget all about his own hunger.

Hawks talked a bit about Shoto and UA, mocking him for Shoto's failure at the provisional license exam until Endeavor steered the conversation away from the small-talk to the matter at hand. He'd come here for the Nomu, not to be mocked or to eat, least of all to watch Hawks meet his fans.

Turned out Hawks' 'rumors' were just that. It made Endeavor angry at first, coming all the way here to Kyushu just to listen to fairy tales. The flame hero was about to leave, when Hawks called him back.

"Wait, hold on! Listen, that reminds me. This isn't the only place where the Nomus have been sighted. You didn't know, did you?" Endeavor stopped in his tracks listening to Hawks. "There have been rumors all around the country. Though none have made it into the news yet." Endeavor didn't know. Had other heroes than Hawks also happened upon them? Why had nobody contacted him? It wasn't that difficult to write him a mail, informing him of such happenings. Didn't they trust him with this information, or did it just not cross their minds to consult with him? And if not the heroes, why did the people not tell him? Whatever they thought about him, he was The Number One Hero, and his office contact was widely available to everybody.

"However, it's been the subject of wives' gossip and children's chatter on the commute to school," explained Hawks.

So still just gossip. Not more than rumors. Yet… "What does that mean?" asked Endeavor suspiciously.

Hawks told Endeavor how he had found out about the rumors, how he had traveled the country to investigate but came up blank, no evidence, nothing to validate that any of the rumors were true. Still, the gossip was everywhere, spreading panic and unease.

Endeavor listened quietly for a while. This was his job, he thought, to ease the people's fear. All Might had told him how fear had ruled the public life before he had taken over the position as Number One and built up his Symbol of Peace. Was this it? Was this what he had been talking about?

However, as Hawks prattled on about the increase in villains, how villains inspired other villains, about what motivated them and as Endeavor felt reminded of the recent surge of popularity of the villain Stain…he felt himself growing impatient. He angrily demanded to know what Hawks was on about, what his end goal was here. What he wanted to achieve both with this cooperation with Endeavor but also in general.

"I want you to become The Number One Hero people can depend on!" declared Hawks with a stupid thumbs up and a bright smile utterly surprising Endeavor. "You will be the one who verifies those rumors. You'll be the one who tells everybody not to worry. I want you to say it with your chest out, high and proud! And I'll be on the sidelines."

Endeavor stared at him. That…wasn't that exactly what Endeavor wanted? He couldn't believe what he heard. This brat WANTED Endeavor to become the Number One, not just in title but in every aspect that counted? Endeavor had been suspicious that, in the end, this all was a selfish ploy by Hawks to topple him – he still was suspicious, if he were being honest. But if Hawks was honest…maybe Endeavor really was not alone after all?

"I said it yesterday, but when you're number one, it's all about the performance."

Endeavor frowned at the kid. He thought they had already agreed that he was not one for acting. The flame hero didn't know what to think about all this.

"What exactly is your angle here?" asked Endeavor angrily – also a bit embarrassed, because the sudden feeling of not being alone in this endeavor for once made him feel things he didn't want to admit, really.

"I just want to take it easy," was Hawks' flippant reply. "Honestly. Just taking leisurely patrol shifts, and when there's a slow day, just roll a joint, sit back, and relax. That would be my ideal life." Endeavor frowned. He thought he understood what the kid meant. "I want to create a world where heroes have more free time than they know what to do with."

Endeavor looked at him thoughtfully. That sounded like such a boring, lazy goal. But in this world, at this time, with all the current rise in villain activity it seemed as hopeless an endeavor as any goal Enji had ever set for himself. He understood then, that no matter their differences, no matter the different angles they took to describe what they wanted, no matter their different outlook on what an ideal life would entail…in the end they wanted the same thing.

Endeavor realized, that for the first time in his life, really, he didn't stand alone in his pursuit of a goal. This was not just his endeavor…it was THEIR endeavor.

He didn't know what to say to that, when he suddenly noticed a dark speck in the sky, approaching fast. After a second, Endeavor could make out the shape of a huge deformed figure with dark black wings.

"Endeavor-san..." he heard Hawks mutter, and the next moment the door opened behind them and a woman came in with their check.

"Get down, Ma'am!" he bellowed as the huge glass front of the room burst on impact with what could only be another black Nomu. When it got up from its landing and looked around the frightened crowd, it let out a challenge, in what appeared to be almost-human speech.

"Who is the Strongest!? BRING ME THE STRONGEST HERO!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Can you see?**

He ordered Hawks to lead the evacuation and when the kid asked him what he would do, Endeavor jumped forward to go on the attack. This was some strange timing … but in the end, hadn't he come all this way here for this?

He would fight the Nomu, and show him, show them all what it meant to be the Number One.

It was a brutal fight. He watched hovering in the air, boosting himself with his flames to prevent himself from falling, as the Nomu healed seemingly effortlessly from one of his strongest attacks. This one was stronger than the ones he had faced in Hosu, but they all had regeneration. Well, the black ones, at least. He remembered that the white ones he had fought had not been able to regenerate from his flames. It seemed the black ones where stronger than the white ones.

But this one…

"Are you strong?!" it screeched, charging at him.

This one spoke. And if it spoke, it could give information, which meant …

"We'll capture it alive and get information out of it!" declared Endeavor to nobody in particular, as Hawks was long gone. He shot out more fire from his fingertips, highly concentrated. And yet, the beast regenerated.

Suddenly, he was hit. The thing was faster than him. Endeavor didn't even know what hit him as he suddenly collided with the building behind him, breaking through the wall of the restaurant he had dined in just earlier. Was it extending his arm to keep pushing Endeavor further? He wanted to stop the beast, but he couldn't use his flames to fight back here. He could see and hear the civilians on the table around him, undefined silhouettes he glimpsed briefly as he was rapidly pushed past them.

He grunted as he collided with the next wall, and the wall after that. He felt his back and ribs crack from the collisions, gritting his teeth. Then, he suddenly found himself outside again, being pushed through the entire building almost effortlessly by the great beast.

He immediately activated his quirk, burning the arm that seemed to extent endlessly, pushing with his flames thrusting from his back to halt his movement and have some leverage against the Nomu's hold on him.

He felt his body stop in mid-air. Suddenly the creature reinforced its hold on him and swiped its extended arm to the side, ripping through the building, cutting it in half, and taking Endeavor with it through a hail of rubble and shards of glass.

Gods, he hoped Hawks could evacuate this building in time.

He heard screaming. As the creature finally let go of him, throwing him away as if he were nothing, and as he struggled to halt his fall with the help of his flames, he got his first real glance at the horrific scene above him. The Nomu had ripped through the entire building with him in his grasp, splitting the skyscraper and severing its upper floors in a way that it slowly slid sideways to crash on the streets and buildings below. It would crush whoever was still down there. And there were still people inside!

Hawks! What was Hawks doing?! People were falling from the building, jumping out of the windows, even, screaming and panicking. HAWKS! Damn it, where was the winged hero? Endeavor had seen his quirk, he should be … There! He could see the feathers of the Number Two Hero swirl around the building catching people in distress, carrying them away to where Endeavor could only hope would be safe.

Endeavor tried to distract the Nomu as best as he could and shift his attention away from the civilians, until Hawks came rushing at him.

"All 72 victims have been evacuated, Endeavor!" screamed the bird-hero, shooting feathers at the beast.

Endeavor didn't need any further invitation. Immediately he let loose of his ultimate moves against both the Nomu and the building, cutting both in a thousand pieces. Fortunately, the rubble was small enough to not do any major damage as it fell on the streets and buildings below. Surely, he thought, that attack would be enough.

"Interesting," he heard the Nomu's gruesome voice.

This was not possible, thought Endeavor. This scorching fist in combination with his spider webs was just about the strongest attack he could use within the confines of a city. He was held back by the fact that he couldn't go all out without endangering everybody in the vicinity. But even so … the beast shouldn't have survived this. Not this easily, as if Endeavor hadn't even scratched it, when in fact he had reduced the beast to burned pieces.

Both he and Hawks were pushed back with the force of the exploding building in a sea of rubble and feathers. Hawks was talking … about what, Endeavor didn't even know.

"Less talking, more fighting" warned Endeavor as he righted himself from the impact of the blast.

"I'm telling you, if I use too many feathers, it lessens my ability to fly!" explained Hawks.

Well, shit. So, that was the limitation of his quirk. And with the number of feathers he had to have used to save all the civilians, he was probably running short already. And, Hawks was not the only one slowly approaching his limits here. Endeavor's own body was already heating up.

Suddenly, there were attacks coming in from the ground and Endeavor spied a group of heroes he didn't know down on the street.

"Endeavor! Hawks! We'll provide backup!"

Their attacks didn't seem to have any effect on the Nomu, other than to distract and annoy it. It was preparing something … an attack against the heroes on the ground, and that could not do. The civilians were down there. Endeavor launched another angry scorching fist at the Nomu, but he was apparently too late, as several … things shot out of the creature and landed in the streets, on the roofs and walls in the vicinity.

God damn … He had failed to stop whatever attack that was, and a glance to the side revealed to Endeavor that the Nomu had somehow created or divided himself into several of the smaller and weaker white Nomu.

That made six quirks, Endeavor quickly surmised. One that allowed it to fly via Shoulder Jets, one that allowed its limbs to transform, turn into wings or stretch and expand, as well as splitting into multiple arms, one that strengthened its muscles, a strength booster, one that allowed it to regenerate, and now also this splitting or division quirk … whatever it was. This was madness.

Worst of all though, it was clearly intelligent. It didn't just speak, and have basic thought and instinct, but it was able to think rationally. It had used those white Nomus to get rid of the distraction, looking for its battle with the strongest opponent – that being Endeavor. And with those white creatures roaming the streets, Endeavor would need Hawks to take care of them. Which essentially meant that the Nomu had just turned this two versus one battle into a one on one duel.

This was not good. And to top it all off, Endeavor could feel the heat in his body rising to unsafe levels.

"Are you … done … shooting?" it asked in it's slow and horribly scathing voice. Like a screech that made Endeavor's skin crawl despite not being particularly high pitched. "N-no more … heat rays?" Endeavor started at the question. Did it realize …? "Or could it be … you can't shoot anymore … -more? I-if so, then …"

It had … It had realized his weakness. Its intuition had become better, as if it was learning throughout the fight. Its speech got better too. And already it was bright enough to realize the limitations of Endeavor's quirk? This was terrifying.

Endeavor had to regulate his fire, not use his scorching fist too much, to avoid heating up. But if he did hold back … the beast had proven to hardly care about his less powerful attacks. It was stronger and faster than Endeavor, that much it had proven. Using his quirk with attacks as powerful as he could was his only option to deal any damage at all. Not that it helped much with the creature healing faster than Endeavor could inflict the damage.

Still, he had to use his fire quirk to do something. It was his only option. That meant that the heat would continuously increase until he was burned from the inside out. He was already sweating profusely, his movements already getting a bit more sluggish. He needed to cool off. He found himself remembering Rei and her ice-quirk. That had been the reason why he had found her. His children. Shoto … who had the ultimate quirk, and wouldn't have to deal with this issue.

The creature's stuttered screams pulled him out of his almost feverish daydream. Right … there was a time and place to think about his family. This was not it. There were no means for him to cool off anywhere in the vicinity.

It was attacking with its outstretched transformed limbs. What a grotesque creature. He raised his arms in defense, felt some of the sharp attacks pierce his armor and skin at his arms and held onto them for dear life.

There was enough heat built up to use this attack …

His Prominence Burn ignited the sky like a miniature sun. He was far enough in the sky now that he could let purgatory loose upon this wretched creature. He would burn it to a crisp, to the last cell, until it wouldn't be able to regenerate anymore.

This beast was stronger than him, faster than him, with strong regenerative powers and a multitude of quirks … he knew by skill alone he should lose this battle. This creature was stronger than him. But he refused to lose his first fight as the Number One. He knew they were all watching. He had told them to watch him, after all!

He knew it … A battle of this magnitude, it could be seen from everywhere in the city, and TV-channels would broadcast it all over the country. In a way, for the first time in forever, he felt the eyes of the world on him. The burden of their hopes, their fears, their despair and their expectations. He would not disgrace himself by falling here! He refused to!

As the white-hot flames of his Prominence Burn died away, he was confused at first. Had it … torn off its neck, thrown its head away to avoid the damage to its brain? Madness! Endeavor was breathing heavily from the heat in his body. The attack just now had pretty much brought him to his limit.

"ENDEAVOR!" He heard Hawks scream from somewhere far away, but before he could react to the warning or grasp what was happening, it hit him brutally and painfully, ripping his side open, splitting his face.

He felt himself fall, but he couldn't halt his descent, crashing into a building taking it down with him as he felt his consciousness slipping and black dots taking over his vision. Blood loss and the built-up heat wanted to force his consciousness under, but there was the pain clawing at him, holding him in its torturous grip, keeping him rooted in reality.

He couldn't move a muscle, nor could he see through the film of blood on his face. Had he lost? But he refused to. He wasn't dead, yet, was he? So, he hadn't lost.

The beast crouched over him. Thinking him dead, maybe? It looked for a different opponent. Somebody stronger than him.

But there was nobody, Endeavor knew. Nobody since All Might had retired. Nobody who could come and take over this fight, defeat this beast, save these people … Nobody but him.

The burden laid heavy on him as his body refused to move. There was just the pain. Was this his end? His defeat, when he had just tried to rise up to his position, become the hero he always wanted to be? The hero to make his children proud …

Instead, here he lay, bloodied, weak and pathetic. Damn it, he refused to let it end like this. He was Endeavor. To struggle was in his name.

He would show them! He had promised them, had promised himself. Hawks, who was trusting him with this battle, who wanted to make him a Number One in more than just name. All Might, who he had worked so futilely to surpass. The people who needed a symbol, the villains who thought there was nobody to stop them anymore. Rei … Natsuo, Fuyumi … Shoto. He had promised them he'd be a hero they could be proud of!

As he lay amidst the rubble, he heard the rotor blades of a news helicopter flying over the destroyed parts of the city, flying over his head. He heard the noises of the battle – the smaller fights between his fellow heroes and the white Nomus – waft over him like a slow breeze. He heard the Nomu mumble, searching for another opponent. Heard his heart beat. And finally felt his fingers move again.

He propelled himself forward with a sudden burst of flames. He drew his arm back and fired another fiery attack at his opponent, when suddenly he felt himself getting hit in the stomach.

Endeavor was hardly able to see anymore and couldn't see the counterattack coming. He only felt its impact on his body, throwing him away with enough force that it broke his ribs, crashing him through several buildings. He didn't even know for certain if his own attack had hit.

He found himself sprawled over several broken desks, as if he had crashed into a school or office building, but he didn't have the energy anymore to look at his surroundings. He felt his insides burn with both the bruising of the impact and the side-effects of his quirk. Were his organs melting?

On all fours, he crawled out of the rubble he had landed in, felt his limbs tremble, his back ache. There was no inch of his body that didn't hurt. As he tried to stand his insides churned painfully and he found himself vomiting blood.

Where was it? Where was the beast? Where were the civilians? The evacuation zone …!

Unable to give up, unable to think of a different plan of attack, unable to do anything other than throw himself at his opponent again and again as often as necessary until he or his opponent would perish, he found himself turning and crawling towards the evacuation zone until he could hear their panicked screams. He was on the right track … The Nomu was there.

But he would never reach it like that. His body didn't follow his command anymore. Weak and pathetic … So, instead, he burst into flames once more. Killing himself, rather than giving up. Moving only with the desperate usage of his quirk, not the strength of his muscles.

He was chasing after the beast, no longer a man, but a burning creature of fire and rage.

"So. Y-you have … regene-regeneration, too?" asked the beast as if in confusion.

He didn't … he was just human. Way beyond his limits. His body wouldn't move, his consciousness was slipping, and only the pain kept him awake. He was grateful for that pain.

This beast wouldn't take him down. He didn't know how, yet. He had no plan, but he would find a way to prevail. He'd raise his fire power even more! Even more, to the point of his organs melting if necessary. He was Endeavor. If he knew one thing, it was to struggle on.

The regeneration … Despite its regeneration, he thought, it would succumb to a head injury, right? He had to kill it. Capture was long out of the question. He had to surpass its reaction and regeneration speed until that face was scorched to dead ash. He wouldn't let himself be taken down this easily.

The beast was too fast … evaded his next move. He was too slow. Suddenly, Hawks was there. Endeavor hardly even recognized him with his blurring vision, but it could have only been him.

Then suddenly, he felt something ram into his back like a thousand needles, the pain only miniscule in comparison to the agony he was in already.

The feathers, he realized, as he suddenly found himself approaching the dark Nomu with fiery wings and newfound speed.

Suddenly he was upon the Nomu, ramming his fist in its face, breaking through its teeth, scorching him from the inside of his mouth. He felt the teeth regenerate, dig into his arm, almost biting of his hand. He couldn't pull out anymore, so he kept burning from his hand, reducing its mouth to ash, pulverizing it again and again and again, until his regeneration wouldn't be able to keep up with him anymore. With the burning purgatory between his jaws it seemed unable to muster the strength to bite down more forcefully and take Endeavor's arm, but its teeth kept growing back, kept digging into Endeavor's flesh until the pain and blood loss made him numb to the feeling of his left arm entirely.

Suddenly, as if on instinct, it seemed to push him, fly into the next building, crash him against the wall and through the stone, flailing like a wild beast.

It wasn't enough, Endeavor realized in despair. The flames weren't hot enough. The feathers were burning away on his back, he could already feel their strength diminish. He needed … he needed to get away from here … out of the city, away from the houses, the civilians and his fellow heroes, up into the sky where he could let his flames loose, power up and burn as hot as he possibly could.

He needed to … "HAWKS!" He screamed for help.

The kid understood his plea, pushed him upwards, and Endeavor dragged the beast with him, arm still embedded between its sharp teeth.

He found himself rising above the streets into the sky, above the houses and office-towers, until he heard Hawks' apology. His feathers were burned, and he couldn't do much more.

It was okay … this was enough. He glanced down to make sure. Just a bit further … The beast, trying to push against him to get out of his fiery grasp, flew higher still, following the direction Hawks and Endeavor had given it. Unable to form any more rational thought, it seemed as if it were just flying higher in an attempt to throw him off.

High in the sky, he wouldn't have to pay any mind to the people and buildings around him. High in the sky, he could ignite another sun, this time with the beast's head firmly in his grasp and its own teeth holding it there. There would be no escape.

"Nomu," grumbled Endeavor, "modified human. You're just like me from the past … or perhaps from an alternate future." The Nomu looking for the strongest opponent to fight … He had been the same, indeed. "Now burn, and rest for all eternity!" He screamed his rage in one final act of defiance against this opponent so much stronger than himself.

To defeat someone so much stronger than yourself, there was only one way, he remembered from his school days. To surpass your own limits, one had to go Plus Ultra. He had hated this school credo for as long as he remembered. But now...now he embraced it.

Plus Ultra! Prominence Burn! He let his flames lose, screaming, holding onto the beast's head for dear life.

This had to be it, right?

As he felt the flames of his attack go out, he also felt the flames stabilizing him mid-air fizzle away. The thing was dead and falling and he, his arm now free, fell with it. What a waste, he thought, as he tried and failed to reactivate his quirk to boost himself just enough to stop his fall. What a waste to just fall to his death. It would be such a disappointing end to a Number One Hero.

He felt his consciousness slipping even further as something caught his body. Some of his fellow heroes used their quirks to catch him, unable to completely halt his descent but taking away from the impact while the Nomu just crashed onto the street, breaking the asphalt.

He had to … he had to stand up, he thought stupidly, unable to form a coherent thought, but he knew he had to do that at least. He pushed the hands of the heroes that had softened his descent away to struggle back to his knees, climbing to his feet with so much effort the act itself almost made him vomit more blood. As he was standing in front of the scorched and dead Nomu, in a slowly receding cloud of fire and smoke, he found himself raising his right fist into the sky.

He had won …but had they seen?


	10. Chapter 10

**Atonement**

He was losing consciousness, stumbled and fell. Endeavor prepared for the impact with the street when suddenly Hawks appeared in front of him. Catching him. That's right … he was not alone in this.

"I can't believe you actually used the same pose as All Might!" said Hawks whose wings were now tiny and with no feathers left. Endeavor couldn't see clearly, but he knew something was missing when his arm fell over Hawks shoulders without brushing his wings.

Had he struck the same pose All Might had? He didn't remember thinking about it. Just that he had felt the inexplicable need to do it, that he had known he needed to do it. "No …" he mumbled after a moment sitting down at the side of the street. "I used … the other arm. His was … the left!" Maybe he would have used his left, too, had it not been completely numb and unwilling to move at all.

"Whatever, same difference," shrugged the kid, handing him a towel to press against the profusely bleeding wound right down his face. It was ridiculous, really. Even with the towel he was losing blood fast from multiple wounds around his body, and he was still trembling from heat. "Anyway, thank you … for winning!"

He found he didn't care for the kid's gratitude. If it hadn't been for Hawks, he'd be dead on the ground and this city would be destroyed. He should have done better. Had to do better the next time, because there would surely be a next time. "I give it zero points," mumbled Endeavor. "I got off to a horrible start."

"Sorry, but even so, this will surely … definitely be huge!" So, they had seen, Endeavor gathered. Mission accomplished, he thought, though he still wasn't sure if he'd survive the day with these wounds. It shouldn't have taken so much!

"First things first, though, we have to do something about your injuries and stop the bleeding …"

Endeavor tried and failed to move. "I can't move an inch," he explained. "Call someone and …"

"Hold up for just a minute." Somebody cut Endeavor off, strolling down the road toward them. Hawks turned around and Endeavor found himself glaring at the direction the voice was coming from, but he couldn't make out more than hazy fog and blurry silhouettes. "A lot of things went beyond my expectations …" Who was this newcomer? "It's nice to meet you, Endeavor." Did he know him?

Who …? Endeavor was panting harshly, trying to focus on the approaching creature, trying to prepare himself for another battle if necessary. This was …

"I caught wind that you were here, you see", the stranger started, and finally his face took shape for Endeavor.

Was this the villain Dabi? He had only seen a composite sketch of him before, hadn't even seen him during the Kamino incident, but the weird wounds around his jaw and arms were a dead-giveaway.

"You … are the one who murdered Snatch," hissed Endeavor, remembering his old classmate. "Or so I hear." Not that they had been close friends. Endeavor had pushed almost everybody away, but Sajin had been a friend once. "The League of Villains' Dabi."

Suddenly blue flames erupted all around Dabi, closing the pair of heroes in. Shit … He had to … get himself together. If the villain wanted to fight now, Endeavor didn't think he had much resistance left to offer.

"Sna- … Who?" Was the villain mocking him? "Doesn't ring a bell. More importantly, let's have a little chat. Opportunities like this don't come so often."

Endeavor leaned forward on all fours, tried to push himself up, tried activating his flames, but all he managed was turning his own blood and sweat into hot steam wafting from his body. Pathetic… He gritted his teeth to fight through the pain and exhaustion, when he suddenly heard Hawks' voice.

"No, you need to rest! I'll take care of him." Endeavor wanted to protest. Hawks had lost most of his feathers. He seemed physically fine for the most part, but he had almost no access to his quirk, Endeavor knew. But he himself didn't have the strength to stand up or move or do anything. Instead he just felt himself crumble to the floor. He had to entrust this to Hawks, he realized. Dammit … Hero 101: Don't let yourself get hurt so badly that you're the one needing rescue!

"I only have these puny feathers left, but … at the very least, I can stall for time." Stall for time? For what? Who was there to come? It wasn't like they had any other choice, as suddenly the villain rushed towards them.

"Hey, give me a break! I just came to take back that Nomu. I mean, there's no way I could win against the top two heroes when they're both on death's doorstep!" gloated Dabi.

Endeavor felt Hawks next to him, preparing for the clash, while Endeavor himself mentally prepared himself to use his flames after all, maybe force one last attack out of his broken body. It wasn't necessary, as without warning something impacted with the street between the two parties.

"I saw the news and hopped right over!" he heard a female voice before he could recognize the newcomer. "Looks like things are really heating up here, eh, Endeavor? Hawks?" Mirko? Indeed, it was the Rabbit-Hero, the current fifth ranking heroine. "You're one of those League of Villains bastards, ain't ya? I'll kick you to kingdom come!"

The villain stopped in his advance then, seeming thoroughly disappointed with the new arrival. "A little help, Ujiko?" He said to thin air, and then that same grey-ish goo spilled out of his mouth, the goo Endeavor still remembered from Kamino.

"Catch you later, Mister Number One Hero." He heard the villain say through the grey goo. "I'm sure we'll have another chance to talk." Maybe had Endeavor not been wrecked by pain, heat and exhaustion he would have thought harder about these words, tried to decipher their meaning. As it was, though, Endeavor, Hawks and Mirko could only watch helplessly as the villain vanished. "Until then, break a leg out there! But don't go kicking the bucket...Todoroki Enji."

Before Enji could react to being spoken to with his real name, before he could even grasp what it might mean, Mirko jumped to attack, but when she made contact with the grey goo it was to late and she collided with the hard ground instead of the villain. They had let him get away … What a failure. But they had also survived.

"Wasn't that the same thing that happened in Kamino?" asked Mirko, confused. There was really no need to answer. Endeavor didn't have the strength anyway.

Hawks had to help him sit back up and stabilize his position. By the time the emergency services arrived, Endeavor had already lost consciousness.

He woke up again sometime between emergency operations. There were two big operations, the first directed towards his damaged organs to save his life, the second directed towards his face to save his eye and assure that everything would grow back together. The Nomu had ripped his face open from his chin to his hairline, almost destroying his eye entirely.

Finally, he woke up for good in the hospital by himself, wrapped tightly in gauze and bandages. He couldn't speak with the bandages over his face, as well as the stitches. They told him how lucky he was, that they had not only saved his life but also his eye. He assumed they were right. He hadn't thought his left eye had much of a chance. That was something at least, though he did have to live with the disfiguring scars for the rest of his life. Not just in his face, either. They adorned his entire left side. His arm was the worst off, though, they told him. He thought he would need a few months for that damage to heal sufficiently, until he could go out and fight again without pain.

Hawks came to visit a few hours after his awakening, bringing some information about the news coverage of the incident and about what had happened after he had lost consciousness. He told him about the start of the reparations, and about Mirko's sudden leave after Dabi had disappeared.

Dabi … The villain had called him by his civilian name, Endeavor remembered, but he couldn't bring the subject up with Hawks. Not because he thought it too private, but because he simply couldn't speak. Hawks' input might have even been useful. Enji had already been as good as out of it when Dabi had arrived. There was a good chance he had missed or forgotten something. But he couldn't talk, and after Hawks left Enji decided it wasn't really Hawks' burden to concern himself with Enji's private life.

The brat looked almost guilty, as his eyes fell upon Enji in his sickbed for the first time. As if he held himself responsible because he had invited Endeavor in the first place. Idiot kid … If he hadn't done it, worse could have happened. And it was Endeavor's fault he hadn't been strong enough and gotten himself injured this severely. It would heal just fine, anyway. No need to cry about a few scars, he thought, though he couldn't yet fully imagine how bad it would look in the end.

Recovery Girl would visit the next day, which came as a surprise to Endeavor. She explained that she came because he was a UA-alumni, and because he was the Number One now. Endeavor suspected it was the second reason rather than the first that brought her here. He had been a UA-graduate for his entire career, but she had never come to heal him. It wasn't a service provided to former UA-students as far as Enji was aware. Best Jeanist, after all, was still recovering from injuries sustained months ago. So it was most likely that she or the school board had seen his fight and thought it necessary for the Number One to be back on his feet as quickly as possible.

He wouldn't complain. If this was what it was, fair enough. It had been what he had wanted after all. To be recognized and accepted as the Number One. For people to trust him in this position. He took it as a good sign. And yet, there was also that irritable thought, that maybe All Might had sent her …

With Recovery Girl's help he made it out of the hospital only two days after the battle. He still felt a bit sore and would have to take it slow for a week or so, but in case of emergency, he'd be there. For now, he thought, he might as well take a weekend vacation, something he rarely did.

Hawks had come to accompany him to the airport. They both went in civilian clothes, both still recovering, but Hawks' wings had grown back enough to make him stand out even out of his costume. His wings were comparatively small, though, and Endeavor felt almost worried that the feathers he had burned wouldn't regenerate so easily.

Endeavor himself was almost unrecognizable without his costume, fiery mask, beard and cloak. It had always been the upside to his hero costume, he thought. Without the fire, he could pass as just a regular civilian. He assumed that that was over now, what with the gruesome scar marking half his face. As soon as that fact became public knowledge, he'd be as easily recognizable on the street in civilian clothes as he was in his costume.

"I'm glad your left eye made it out ok," rambled Hawks, who hardly stopped talking … ever. "But I'm really sorry about everything that happened. It's all my fault."

"Quit acting so noble" reprimanded Enji. He had been right in his assessment when they had met again after the battle. Hawks felt guilty about something. Putting Endeavor in this position to begin with, probably. "My injuries are my own responsibility," he declared stubbornly.

"Hey, that's a good one! Can I use it the next time I'm injured?"

Enji rolled his eyes. "You had no intention of actually apologizing, huh?" asked Enji. Strangely enough, he didn't feel angry anymore. Two days ago, he had thought the kid was utterly infuriating, and yet...now he felt calm. Even when Hawks made his stupid comments about just about everything. It didn't concern him anymore. Not the way it had before, at least. The kid had proven himself, Enji thought. They stood on the same side, and they both had bigger fish to fry than getting annoyed at stupid jokes. He had found himself a new goal. The feeling was well-known and almost welcome. A new enemy to defeat. Not just some elusive, undefinable goal like 'resurrecting a symbol' or 'making somebody proud'. Something he could reach with his own hand. Something definite, solid. Somebody to defeat.

He would beat this League of Villains. Fight them with all he had, never stop and never give up. He found his old determination again, but there was a difference. He felt like he was out of the tunnel. Back when he had pursued All Might with everything he had, that had been the only thing he had ever been able to see. This big back in the distance, the gigantic chasm between them, his single-minded goal moving further and further away no matter how hard he tried to get closer.

Now, it wasn't like that. He had the same determination, the same will to struggle, the same unstoppable drive, but he was not in the tunnel. There were more things to achieve than just this one thing. He remained aware of the things around him: people, allies, family, rivals, obstacles and enemies. He found himself weirdly content despite this new decision to pursue yet another goal, subscribe himself to yet another endeavor.

"But more importantly, that Nomu came charging in aiming directly for us. And on the same day we arrived … was that truly a coincidence?" wondered Enji. It seemed off.

Maybe they'd been seen, and the League had acted quickly. That would mean, however, that they had a Nomu on stand-by, just waiting for an opportune moment. And that, on the other hand, meant that they hadn't targeted the city at all, but it had only been Endeavor's and Hawks' presence that had invited the attack. That would be bad. His goal was to intimidate or warn villains not to dare engage in their criminal acts, not to give them somebody to challenge.

If they had a Nomu in the area on stand-by, did that mean they had multiple Nomu ready at any given moment, at several different places? That would be even worse. Or was this just an isolated incident? A coincidence, maybe, that it just so happened the Number One and Two heroes met in a city they had chosen for an attack anyway? Maybe their arrival had just moved the plot along? Or had that teleportation quirk they had access to been the reason? Could they just start an attack at any given moment at any given place by teleporting the Nomu to the designated area? He remembered reading some specifications about that particular teleportation quirk. Apparently, it was not too flexible in where to send somebody. After the Kamino incident, he had read that this All For One-villain had only been able to teleport hist targets to himself and to other people close to him. Still, he couldn't be sure.

What bugged him most was that, if Endeavor and Hawks had in fact been the target, it meant the League of Villains had access to information that they should not have been privy to. This would seem to suggest a spy or traitor of some sort. The leak would have to be either in Hawks' or his own office, or maybe they'd been spied on during the Billboard Charts Announcement Ceremony? The implications of any of that were bad. He trusted the people in his own office. He was also certain that Hawks surely trusted his own people. And Endeavor trusted Hawks. The brat could have easily let him die during the battle without raising any suspicions. There had certainly been enough opportunities. Instead, Hawks had helped him secure the victory.

The idea of a traitor or spy was even worse when he considered that there were already implications of a traitor within UA. The school didn't make it public … but Endeavor could count one plus one. There had been too many incidents to not raise suspicion. That made two leaks at high enough positions to be privy to important information.

Hawks made a flippant sound next to Enji. "When the new Top Two are walking around right outside the station in broad daylight, it's bound to raise some eyebrows. The villains were waiting for their chance, and we caught their eye," explained Hawks.

Was that it? Had they been seen, and had the villains thought the moment opportune to … what? Just throw a Nomu at them? So, had it been an attempt against their lives, or an attempt to topple the new Number One. Did he invite challenge, after all? Or was there something more? What had Dabi said …? He tried remembering the villain's words, but he only remembered blurry faces, blue flames, mockery, and the fiend calling him by his real name.

"It's possible that the Nomu rumors themselves were just bait spread by hero hunters," thought Hawks aloud. "We'll have to notify the League Search Team."

The redhead agreed. "Tread carefully," warned Enji.

There was a questioning look by the younger hero.

"If you're planning on continuing your investigation from here on out, you should ask someone to cooperate with you." Enji explained. It was a good idea, he thought. Over the last days, he had learned that he was not alone. All Might had shouldered the entire burden of keeping Japan safe alone. Endeavor couldn't imagine how the other hero had done it. Endeavor himself had almost been killed in his first battle, multiple times. He was well-aware that he would be dead without Hawks, that both of them would probably be either dead or injured even worse had Mirko not hopped in. However much he wanted, he could not do this alone. He had learned that much. And if he was being honest, he worried for his younger colleague. He had seen the sheer strength of this Nomu, and he knew that, while Hawks was surely capable and strong – especially for his age – he was not as strong as Endeavor. Alone, neither of them stood a chance against beasts of that caliber. Not in the long run. "That way, even if another powerful enemy appears, you'll be able to stand against it."

There was an awkward pause before Hawks suddenly laughed silently. "Endeavor, have you always been this considerate? You haven't, have you?"

"You wanna get burned?!" warned Enji angrily, but he was more embarrassed than actually angry.

They parted ways at the airport.

His flight was only an hour long, but checking in and out made the process drag a bit. Back on the ground, he first visited his office to bring in his costume for repairs, as well as handing over leadership of the place for the next three days to his most senior sidekick.

Another hour later, he was back home. He was surprised when he found Eraserhead outside his home, and figured the man wanted to discuss business, before he remembered that he was also Shoto's homeroom teacher. They only greeted each other briefly outside. If Aizawa was here, did that mean …

As he opened the door to the living and dining area, he was surprised to find not only Fuyumi and Shoto, but even Natsuo sitting around the table. The TV was running, broadcasting Fuyumi's favorite cooking show. There was a table setting at the head of the table supposedly dedicated to him. It was … really quite unexpected.

"Nice work out there. You must be tired," said Fuyumi as if nothing abnormal was happening.

Enji just blinked at her quietly, then he looked at Shoto and Natsuo. He wasn't even sure when he had seen Natsuo for the last time.

"Long time no see" was really the only thing he could come up with, now, as he saw his family – minus Rei, still in hospital - gathered like this.

"Shoto even went out of his way to get permission to leave school grounds, you know," said Fuyumi excitedly. She was clearly happy to see them all together like this. Enji looked at his youngest son. "I told the teacher he was welcome to come in too, but he respectfully declined. Well, anyway, I'll just say congrats on a job well done … and leave it at that!" Fuyumi was rambling, he realized. She only did that when she was nervous. This was important to her, he knew. She more than anybody had tried keeping the family together. She'd given even him second and third and fourth chances he had never deserved … never mind actually used.

Shoto glared back at him, his left side with the burn mark turned toward him. Enji only now realized that his own newly acquired scar looked eerily similar to his son's. Enji felt suddenly horrible just looking at him, looking at the burn mark on his son's face and that turquoise eye so much like Enji's own looking at him with … not quite the contempt it normally held for him, but not quite acceptance either.

The boy didn't even stop slurping his noodles as he locked eyes with his father. "That's, ah, quite a nasty scar you got there," said Shoto in between slurps.

Natsuo behaved just like Shoto, staring at him with this look that Enji couldn't quite place, though there seemed to be more judgement and anger in Natsuo's eyes. Natsuo would be the most difficult of the three, Enji knew. It was his own fault. The boy had seen his own brother die, and instead of being supportive, Enji had thrown him to the side, only so he didn't have to face his responsibilities. He'd been a father to Fuyumi for a while. There were some years when he had actually tried hard with her, tried to be a decent father at least, tried to be there and offer support. He had never been great at it, but he had tried. Maybe Fuyumi still remembered. Maybe that was the reason she was most willing to give him second chances no matter how many he had let slide already. With Shoto … he'd been a shitty father. Almost certainly traumatized the ki. But, in his own twisted way, he had cared for him, raised him, showed concern for him. He had done it wrong. Of course, he had never given the boy the feeling that he cared for him beyond his value as a potential rival to All Might. But at least Shoto could've always been sure that he had some value in his father's eyes. He had made Shoto hate him … try to prove him wrong every step he took … but at least he'd been there for Shoto. Well, so he thought.

Natsuo, though … He'd never been anything to Natsuo. He had thrown him to the wayside first chance he got, never even tried to help him with anything, teach him anything, show him anything, talk to him at all. He had traumatized him by not being there for Touya, leading to Touya … burning to death, god dammit, in front of his then three-year-old son. And then instead of helping Natsuo get past that trauma, he had abandoned him shortly after.

Enji had realized that long ago, really, but it was only now, as Natsuo stared at him quietly eating his soup, that he couldn't escape this knowledge anymore.

"Hey, you two! Can't you at least manage a 'welcome back'?" he heard Fuyumi whisper. "We all promised we'd thank him today, didn't we?!" Thank him for what, he wondered. "Dad's finally trying to reflect on the past and show more concern for his family, you know?!" He knew she was trying, and he loved her for it, but even he realized that it was futile. This wasn't her job. It shouldn't be her burden to keep this family together. It should be his. Should've always been his. "Just because you hate him doesn't mean you should leave it written all over your faces like that!"

He quietly raised an eyebrow. Did she think he didn't hear? "I can hear you," Enji informed her. Fuyumi looked a bit embarrassed.

Natsuo and Shoto both finished eating at about the same time, before Natsuo rose from his seat.

"Sorry, Sis. I just can't do this," declared Natsuo making his way for the door past Enji, while his sister begged him to reconsider.

Enji grabbed Natsuo on the shoulder before the boy could move past him and actually leave the room. He couldn't let him just leave like that. He'd waited for a chance to talk to his estranged son for so long. "Natsuo, if you have something to say, then go ahead and say it."

"Say it?" repeated his son in sudden rage. "That's rich, coming from the guy who wouldn't even look me in the eye for all these years! You've got some nerve, you know that?!"

Enji felt shame at that. It was true, no talking around it, and maybe he had no right to demand that Natsuo talk to him, when he had never talked to Natsuo. He knew he had made mistakes, and he didn't demand to be forgiven, understood … loved even. But he wanted …

He didn't know, what it was that he wanted. A chance? How many of those did he let slip by already?

"It's funny, I had no idea Soba was Shoto's favorite food until today. You took special care to never let us, your 'failures,' into his life, after all." Natsuo looked at him angrily, and Enji didn't know what to say. It was true, but what was he to say to that? Where could he start? Every explanation would just sound like an excuse, so he couldn't start with that, but just knowing where he couldn't start didn't mean he knew where he should start. He wished he could take himself back in time half an hour to start this whole conversation all over again and maybe go a different route ... or maybe just let Natsuo go unchallenged.

There was a short pause from Natsuo before he balled his fists, raising his voice again. "For whatever reason, Mom and Sis both seem to have no problem with forgiving you." Enji felt his eyes flicker to Fuyumi for a second before focusing on Natsuo again. "As far as I'm concerned, that crazy bastard we knew all to well is still going strong! They're acting like you've changed, but you haven't changed a bit!"

The words hurt but again Enji couldn't completely deny them. He thought he had changed, he … FELT changed. But most of his recent changes had been in his professional life. In a way, he had hoped that, if he just proved himself to be a hero they could be proud of, everything would change. That making them proud of the hero Endeavor would somehow make them care more for the father Enji. Maybe he had started wrong after all, should have focused on his family first instead of his hero work.

He had tried. These recent days and weeks he'd tried so hard to find a place to start, a direction to go, a chance to reconcile with his family and clean up past mistakes. But after all his efforts, all the promises he had made to himself to do better … be better, what exactly had he actually done better. He'd won against a Nomu. He'd done the same both in Hosu and Kamino. Endeavor had always been a strong hero. He'd fought his hardest battle yet, but in the end, fighting and winning battles was all Endeavor had ever done, his daily bread and butter for longer than any of his kids had lived.

Natsuo was probably right after all. In the public eye, perhaps, he had changed. He had gone out there, fought his first battle as Number One, and triumphed. But really, he had just done what he always did. Had gone and done his job. And then he had come home to demand admiration.

It felt different. He felt different and changed and … better, really. But to Natsuo, nothing was different.

"You completely neglected us," Natuso's voice was growing in volume now, "and left us to listen to Mom screaming and Shoto crying. Not to mention what happened to Big Bro Touya …" Enji winced at that. The judgement in Natsuo's voice which he had always shied away from was out in full force. "You going off and beating some strong villain doesn't make all that just disappear, dammit!" He hit his fist against the door frame.

"And here you are," now he was finally screaming, "deciding now's the time to have a change of heart! You just make a half-assed attempt at coming back into our lives?! It makes me sick! Do you have any idea how any of us feel?!"

Natsuo seemed exhausted from his outburst, and this seemed to be the point where Enji should address all these issues, say something. But he didn't know what, so he just reiterated the decision he had made with himself.

"From now on," he started solemnly, "I'm going to face my past and atone for everything I've done."

"Oh, is that so?!" screamed Natsuo in his face. "Well, good luck with that, asshole!" He turned away and stormed off down the corridor. "Sorry, Sis! Thanks for the food!"

He didn't know if he had said something wrong, done something wrong. It was a good rule of thumb to say he probably had. But this was so difficult, and he could only stare after his son's retreating back until it vanished around another corner. He thought he heard Natsuo violently shut the door to his old room, where he didn't normally live anymore. Not since he had moved into the student's dorm as soon as it was legally possible.

"Natsu!" he heard Fuyumi cry, and Enji felt he owed her an apology for this disaster. He probably owed her an apology for so many things. And a thank you for how much effort she had put into this family, how many chances she had given him, for being the only one to help him as he tried to make amends. She had been here, always.

"I guess things won't work out after all …" Fuyumi muttered to herself, sounding utterly broken. "After Shoto got accepted into UA, and he was able to see Mom again … and then Dad approached us and started coming around, and Mom started to smile again …" He hadn't even known that. Hadn't seen Rei for the last ten years. The doctors still advised against the meeting. "I finally thought we could be a proper family, and …" She suddenly grabbed Shoto, crying onto his shoulder, "Your sister was really happy, Shoto!"

Shoto seemed a bit helpless with what to do. He looked after Natsuo, eating another bowl of noodles. "I've never seen Natsu get that emotional before," he muttered.

He was right. For as far as Enji remembered, although he hardly was an expert, Natsuo had never been the emotional one. This outburst was unlike him. Or perhaps, Endeavor thought, entirely like him: he simply had never noticed.

They were distracted when the TV – the cooking show was long over by now – started broadcasting a news report on his battle with the Nomu. They produced those almost every hour now, though he didn't particularly bother watching them.

"It's been two days since that fierce battle, and opinions of The Number One Hero continue to waver," the newscaster said on screen. Enji and his two children turned their heads in mild interest watching as the screen showed a group of different people giving their opinion on the hero Endeavor.

There was an older lady worrying about his injuries during the battle, then two younger blokes talking about how he had let the villain – Dabi – escape and how Nomu's had already been defeated in the past, so shouldn't that one have been easier to handle? Fuyumi didn't seem to like those comments, maybe fearing it would worsen the mood in the living room even more if Enji heard the criticism and threw a hissy-fit. But Enji was well aware of the critics. He'd gone over the fight himself both in the hospital and on the plane, and he couldn't agree more. It should have been easier. He still gave himself zero points for this performance, even if Hawks and many civilians seemed to think it had been an amazing battle.

"As you can see, the voices of anxiety haven't changed …" Fuyumi wanted to turn the TV off, but Shoto was apparently interested. "On the other hand …"

There was a kid on the TV-screen that seemed mildly familiar. "Don't go broadcasting despair all over the world!" He was … what? Fourteen years old maybe? Maybe a bit older. "Not when our symbol hasn't given up yet!" He could see from the pushing and panicking crowd that this must have been a video recording from the day of the battle. He could hear distant noises of the fighting in the background. "Who do you think is straining himself for our sakes right now?! Can't you see?!"

Enji hadn't heard or seen this recording before, but as the news cut to different people proclaiming themselves Endeavor-fans for various reasons, it became obvious that the brat was a bit of a celebrity now after the fight. Apparently, he had ranted at the news crews talking about the lack of All Might in the midst of his battle, and his desperate shouting now served as some sort of rallying cry for a massively growing Endeavor fanbase. They had even turned him into something of a meme, thought Enji, as he saw tea cups and T-shirts with his face printed on them along with several captions.

And he was now more sure than ever that he had seen the kid somewhere before.

"A certain boy," the broadcaster said, "has become the talk of the town, earning himself the nickname 'Can't ya see-kun'. His impassioned shouts moved many hearts and drew them to cheer on Endeavor." Oh … he remembered now. This had been the kid who had told him that Endeavor was not doing fan-service.

"Yeah, that battle was something else!" they interviewed a couple on the street of a ruined city now. "I mean, Endeavor goes without saying, but 'Can't ya see-kun' and, of course, Hawks' dedication were both huge! Everyone was like, in unison, 'let's cheer him on!' It was crazy!"

He had asked them to watch him. Now he knew they had. They had seen.

He remembered his conversation with All Might. His despair after taking over the Number One position, when he had wanted to fulfill it, but there had been this invisible something just crumbling away, falling apart under his hands, and he didn't know what to do. Had he done it? Had he taken the first step that he needed to take?

"He may yet be faced with tough opposition, but everyone has now realized that the Age of Endeavor has arrived." The Age of Endeavor …? What … the age of eternal struggle? What a fitting name, he thought sardonically. He knew it wouldn't be easy. "The voices of support for him are steadily growing louder and louder."

"Endeavor," Shoto spoke up suddenly, making Enji shift his focus back on his youngest son, waiting for … whatever. Condemnation, acknowledgement … He had wanted to make him proud. "The hero … He's … amazing. He's remarkable." Enji stared at him in surprise, because he hadn't expected that, but it had been what he wanted. Making his children proud. Had he done it, achieved that much?

"But pretty much everything Natsu said was right on the money, I think." Enji frowned quietly, waiting for what was to come. He realized that the hero Endeavor had never been the problem. Endeavor had not been perfect. He'd been too lost in his pursuit of something impossible to reach, too frustrated, too desperate. But still, Endeavor had always been a good hero, and while the people might disagree on their opinion of him, at least they all seemed to agree on that point. He might not be everybody's favorite hero, but he was a good one, nonetheless. That, however, had never been his family's problem. Not Endeavor … Enji was the fuck-up. Enji was what needed fixing.

"I still haven't forgiven you … for how you tormented Mom." He expected it. He certainly didn't think he'd be forgiven that easily, if at all, so he just took in his son's words. "That's why … I want to see what kind of Dad you'll become from here on out." It was a chance, he realized. The first and last chance Shoto would ever give him. "One small inspiration really can completely change a person. I know that better than anyone." Enji thought he was talking about the Sports Festival this year. Afterwards, Shoto had indeed been a changed person.

"Shoto … I'll bring some more soup." smiled Fuyumi. She seemed happy. He wanted to see her happy more often, he realized.

He'd become the Number One against his own will, and in the worst possible way. For days and weeks, he had felt nothing but irritation and bafflement in his heart, but Endeavor had still continued to do his job. All Might had showed him, made him aware of a truth he should have realized long ago already. Power … A reason to reign above them all … For what did Enji want it, pursue it, struggle so much to achieve it? What was the point? To just get stronger until there was nobody left to challenge him? It seemed to be such a vain goal in hindsight.

Back then, when he had thought about All Might's words, feelings had welled up in him. Trite, banal … sappy, really. He HAD to secure a future for them.

That was his duty as the top hero. But if so, what of the future he had cut short?

He remembered. Touya, Rei, Natsuo, Shoto, Fuyumi … his regrets. His past mistakes. His past evil.

He quietly turned away from his two children. Fuyumi jumped up to stop him.

"Dad! Now you're running off somewhere?!"

"Fuyumi," he heard himself say her name. He should thank her, he knew. And he should apologize. For now, one thing was far more important than the other. "I'm sorry … for everything." He'd apologize again later, for now, he had a different course of action in mind. His eyes trailed down the corridor to where Natsuo had vanished. "I chose the wrong words when I spoke to Natsuo just now."

And with that, he left his two other children to look for Natsuo in his room. The boy probably didn't want to see him. He'd respect that. But he had to try. He had a new starting line, a new goal to accomplish, a new endeavor. Maybe his most important endeavor yet. Not one for Endeavor to pursue, but for Enji. For both of them maybe, because in the end Enji and Endeavor were one and the same.

Natsuo was right. Shoto was right. After everything that had happened, he had no intention of asking for forgiveness. Not after everything. It may well be too late, but …

All he could do now, was atone. That was the only path forward.

In the end, Enji was Endeavor. And this was Enji's endeavor.

* * *

Thanks so much to **Lionheart261** who betaed the entire story over the last few months. Thanks so much.


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